All Hallow's Eve
by Aileen Autarkeia
Summary: It was supposed to be a haunted house. Not a time-space-dimensional portal. Of course their unlucky selves got sucked straight into their favorite movie. Now they just need to make sure that they don't die. Easier said than done.
1. Chapter 1

Yet another Avengers story- I know. I'm trying to "find my muse" with my Harry Potter story, but unfortunately it's looking like it'll never get finished. *sad face*

This is NOT a self insert story. This is based off of an idea my friends and I had to dress up as the Avengers for Halloween. Unfortunately it's looking more and more like it'll fall through. Only me and another girl have our costumes finished. *cough JAZZY PSEUDONYM cough*

Please enjoy!

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They stepped into the haunted house, giggling a bit in fright. Stephanie had her shield up defensively, even though the cardboard would be worthless in a fight. Lori was looking around warily, staff up while Tasha was examining her blasters almost boredly. Claire had an arrow to the string of her bow and Nathan had his pistols in his hands. Lena was holding her plastic hammer with a tight two handed grip as Brenda tightly gripped her green plastic fists.

A smooth female voice spoke. "Before you continue, please close your eyes and make a wish."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow and murmured, "Back to back in a circle."

The others nodded and did so, holding their weapons up as they closed their eyes and all unknowingly thought the exact same thing.

"I wish we could meet the Avengers."

There was a light breeze which was steadily picking up. Stephanie kept her eyes closed and frowned. She felt- weightless. She tucked her shield closer to her body and opened her eyes.

Almost immediately she threw herself to the side as a blast of blue light shot past her. She threw her shield up instinctively as the second blast impacted, throwing her ten feet backwards, but keeping her alive.

Slowly Stephanie sat up, ears ringing and head spinning, and staggered to her feet. A hand helped her up.

From what she could see it was night. There were stars out in the sky as she quickly glanced up, and there were uneven bricks under her feet. She was in the middle of a large plaza, surrounded with screaming people and several burning 'Polizei' cars. Police. Germany. Right.

She turned and nodded to Lori, who then quickly gestured to a statue plinth that was now empty, the previous occupant shattered on the ground. "Come on!" she whispered, keeping close to the ground as they sprinted.

They made it- barely- and collapsed against each other, breathing heavily. "What- the heck- is going on?!" Stephanie asked.

"I need to see better- LOOK AT ME, I'M A TARGET!" Lori stood up and screamed, waving her hands in the air. Stephanie yanked her down quickly as a blast shot over her head.

"Oh Stephanie- guess who it is?" Lori said in a sing song tone of voice.

Hesitantly, Stephanie crawled around to the side of the plinth. She crouched low to the ground and watched, in shock, amazement, and a healthy dose of fear, as Captain America fought Loki in the center of Stuttgart, Germany.

Stephanie suddenly stiffened. "There's a girl," she hissed to Lori.

"Stephanie, you honestly can't-" Stephanie ignored the rest of what she was about to say and took off at a sprint towards the five year old girl, who had wandered away from her parents and was standing, openly, in the middle of the square.

Loki had obviously noticed her as well, because he took the time to charge up his staff and shoot.

Time slowed down for Stephanie. She wasn't sure if she'd make it in time and pumped her system full of adrenaline. Her speed increased, she dropped to her knees, and slid to a halt in front of the child, just as the energy blast hit.

She was knocked backwards once again, this time prepared, and coughed dryly as she shoved herself to her feet and picked up the child in one arm. The girl was crying as Stephanie handed her back to her parents and began a slow circling route around the battle zone.

Luckily, she didn't have to use her shield again, because at that exact moment music began blasting through the loudspeakers around the square. She groaned loudly and shot a look at Lori, who returned it, as Iron Man swooped down and blasted Loki onto some stairs.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games!" a familiar voice crowed loudly.

Both teen's heads snapped up to the smaller red-and-gold figure, hovering overhead. "Tasha?!" they asked in unison.

"I wondered where you girls had gone to!" she said as she landed and they came together. "What was that whole thing about, anyways? Is this some kind of simulation?"

"I don't know but DUCK!" Stephanie shouted and yanked Tasha and Lori to the ground as another blast from Iron Man's wrist blasters slammed into her shield.

The quinjet landed and another figure jumped out before the back was fully down, sprinting to them. "Nathan!" the three girls shouted as he reached them.

"I have no idea what's going on but the lady that looks a heck of a lot like Natasha Romanoff was not pleased when I spontaneously appeared in the quinjet," he said, rubbing his shoulder.

"I'm surprised you're still up and walking. Look sharp, here they come," Lori hissed.

The four spread out into a half circle. Lori didn't have her staff as a sign of goodwill, but the rest had their weapons ready to go to defend themselves and their friends.

"Who the h*** are you and why the h*** do you have a mini-Mark VI on?" Tony Stark asked from behind the helmet.

"I can probably ask the same of you," Steve Rogers commented to Stephanie.

She kept her shield up as Natasha Romanoff dragged Loki over to where they were standing. "What did you do?" she demanded, staring at Loki. "And why the h*** does he look like me?"

"'He' has a name, you know. It's Nathan," he said, handguns in hand as he stared warily at the Black Widow.

"I suggest you get Loki onto the quinjet before he tries to escape," Stephanie said warily. "That could be... bad."

"Then you have to come with," Stark ordered. "Because I am fairly concerned about the Loki-look alike right there." He pointed at Lori, who Stephanie stepped in front of.

"Her name's Lori, we've been friends for five years, and if you try to hurt her you WILL have to go through me," she threatened.

"Ooooh, someone's a feisty little thing," Stark teased. "C'mon. You can introduce yourselves on the way back to the Helicarrier- I assume that's where we're going?"

Natasha nodded and gestured for Rogers to help escort Loki to the quinjet. The four teens drifted behind silently, with Iron Man bringing up the rear.

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"So why don't you introduce yourselves?" Stark asked after they settled in and took off.

"Sure! I'm Tasha," Tasha said with a cheeky grin. "I do believe that you have a mini-me now, Stark."

"Oh God- as if having just one of her wasn't enough," Nathan groaned. "I'm Nathan."

"Stephanie," Stephanie said quietly, from her place leaning on the back wall of the quinjet.

"And I'm Lori," Lori said, examining the green scarf around her neck. "I like this outfit!"

"Of course you do," Stephanie said edgily. "But can we focus on the matter at hand- namely, how we hopped back in time a few months, crossed an ocean, and ended up right in the middle of a fire fight?"

"Ok. Good question. Where do we start?" Tasha asked. "Maybe with the haunted house and the creepy lady?"

"It must've been a trap," Stephanie muttered.

"It's a trap!" Tasha shouted and laughed.

"Excuse me, can we try to take some stuff seriously right now?" Stephanie snapped.

"Ladies, ladies, let's calm down now," Stark said soothingly, stepping forwards to put himself between the two girls. "Fighting's gonna get us nowhere."

"Look who's talking," Natasha muttered.

"Besides, we're missing about half of our number right now, and two of them could be in super hostile territory," Nathan said. "Including my girlfriend."

"I'm sure Claire... Son of a gun!" Lori whispered, pressing her hand to her mouth. "If she's where I think she is-"

"And Brenda- oh God in Heaven," Stephanie muttered. "We're all gonna be screwed if she's where I think she is, with who I think she's with."

"Out of the three of them, I think Lena's the one I'm least worried about because-"

There was a crash of lightning, followed swiftly by rolling thunder and a smaller strike of lightning. "Where'd this come from?" Natasha asked, leaning forwards to better see the sky.

Loki leaned forwards and looked up at the roof, with clear trepidation. Lori frowned a bit, and Stephanie casually picked up her shield and shifted so she wasn't leaning on the back door to the quinjet. Lori nodded her thanks.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Rogers asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki said, and Lori mouthed the words right along with him.

There was an extremely loud thump on the top of the quinjet. Everyone started a little bit. "This is like a terrible horror movie," Nathan muttered, as another, quieter thump sounded.

Stark hit the door opener before Tasha could stop him. The back slowly lowered, and Stephanie braced against the whipping wind, shoving her blonde hair behind her ear.

Quite suddenly Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, landed heavily on the ramp. Stephanie braced and Tasha moved to protect Lori from his gaze as he looked around.

And sure enough, Lena landed right behind him.

"Lena!" Stephanie shouted, reaching out a hand to help her friend into the quinjet. Lena took it and scrambled inside, where hugs were quickly exchanged.

Thor, in the meantime, threw Stark halfway across the quinjet into the wall separating the cockpit from the main cabin. He grabbed Loki and hauled him out of the seat, and then gestured to Lena. "Come along, Lena," he said quickly, and Lena waved cheerfully before hopping out behind him.

"And now there's those two," Stark commented as he stood up.

"Heeeeeey, Lena's a friend. Don't diss her," Tasha complained as she stood up and slid her helmet into place.

"Ok, so now there's that guy," Stark said, sounding extremely annoyed.

"More Asgardians?" Natasha called from the cockpit.

"These people are friendlies?" Rogers shouted.

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." Stark was already warming up his engines, preparing to blast after the strange man.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack," Steve said urgently.

"I have a plan. Attack." And before they could say anything, Tasha stood up and ran to the edge.

"Well? Are you coming or not?" she shouted to Stark.

"I thought you'd never ask," he said, and they hopped off together.

Stephanie sighed and reached over to grab a parachute as Rogers did.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap, mini-Cap," Romanoff said.

"I don't see how I can," Rogers said. "But you need to stay here." He turned to look at Stephanie.

"If I don't Lena or Tasha's gonna get killed. I'm not gonna stand by idly while they duke it out," she snapped. "No offense."

"These guys come from legend, they're basically Gods," Romanoff said.

"Lena isn't a Goddess yet, Agent Romanoff, and besides..." Stephanie turned to look at Rogers.

"There's only one God, Ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He smiled at her a bit, and sprinted forward off the back.

"Lori, stay here. Don't go anywhere. Nathan, look around for anything that could signal trouble and contact us on the ground. And Agent Romanoff? Thank you for putting up with these two immature teens. You are a saint."

Romanoff shot a glance over her shoulder and smiled briefly as Stephanie leapt off the plane- realizing too late that she had never been skydiving before.


	2. Chapter 2

So many lovely reviews! You are all amazing people!

I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last one.

Please enjoy!

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Lena landed heavily behind Thor and waved him off to talk to his brother. She wandered down the cliff face, carefully picking her way to solid ground.

Thor growled loudly in frustration, and she whirled to look up at him, worry in her eyes. He was shouting at Loki, which didn't surprise her in the least.

Suddenly two streaks of light in the sky caught her attention. She looked up as not one, but two Iron Men streaked across the sky. The smaller of the two landed in front of her. The other tackled Thor away from Loki.

Tasha flipped her face mask up and grinned at Lena. "I'm not gonna attack you, if that's what you're worried about," she said cheerfully.

Lena relaxed her stance and smiled back. "I was, indeed, slightly worried that you would attempt to neutralize me."

"Whoa, little Miss Thor, Shakespeare in the Park much?"

As one, the two girls and Stark said, "Doth Mother know you weareth her drapes?"

The two men shot the girls odd looks as they grinned and high-fived each other. They were promptly ignored and the two drew back to the cliff face to keep away from the imminent fight.

"Where'd you show up?" Tasha asked cheerfully as she crossed her arms and leaned against the sheer rock face.

"Right as he came out of the Bifrost. You?" she asked.

"He was somewhere over the English Chunnel and I dropped out of the sky. He almost tackled me. That was... entertaining."

They looked up in time to hear Jarvis tell Stark, "Power is at 400%, sir."

"Well." They could hear the smirk on his face. "How 'bout that."

"Thor, LOOK OUT!" Lena shouted suddenly, as Stark powered up his blaster and fired. She made as if to move forward, but Tasha grabbed her arm and yanked her back suddenly.

"Don't! He's fine!" she hissed suddenly.

Lena looked at Thor, fear and worry in her eyes, but she nodded and sighed a bit.

They fell silent, watching the battle with a very dry amusement. They were going on their fifth bag of imaginary popcorn when a red-white-and-blue shield slammed into Thor and rebounded into Iron Man's chestplate.

"Uh oh, brace," Tasha warned, setting herself firmly.

"If you really want to help us, put the hammer down," Rogers said, polite, yet firm.

"Uh, no, he really loves his hammer-" Stark started to say, but was cut off by Thor slamming said hammer into his chest and knocking him out of the clearing.

Thor was evidently still raring for a fight, because he roared, "You want me to put the hammer down?!"

"Oh no-" Lena started to say, but was cut off by the hammer hitting Rogers' shield.

The shockwave pinned them to the cliff for a few seconds and leveled a good size clearing around the men. The two girls straightened when they were sure that it was safe to stand and slowly walked to where the two men were standing.

"Are we done here?" Rogers demanded.

They nodded to each other and looked around for a sixth person. "Is Stephanie around here?" Lena asked, concern filling her voice.

"TIMBERRRR!" a familiar voice shouted, and a tree started slowly falling towards them.

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Stephanie grabbed her shield off her back and used it to control her rate of descent. She could see Rogers below her and angled herself to fall about thirty feet away from him, watching him for cues.

They fell a few hundred feet slowly as Stephanie watched the light show through the clouds. She couldn't help but be worried about Lena and Tasha- not because she thought they would fight, but she though that Thor or Stark may try to take the opposite's doppelgänger out.

She started as she realized that Rogers had pulled the cord on his parachute and scrambled to find her own. With a harsh tug, the parachute billowed behind her and she sighed in relief as her velocity quickly slowed.

She landed before Rogers did in a tree and yanked off the parachute harness. Stephanie took a deep breath, balanced on a branch, before she launched herself to another branch and swung like she was on the monkey bars.

Again she released and flew forwards to land on another branch. She was about fifteen feet from the ground and gauged her injury possibility as negative one.

Unfortunately she failed to compensate for other factors- such as an Asgardian hammer hitting a vibranium shield.

The shock wave blasted her back about ten feet. She tucked and rolled as the blast carried her far back and into a tree trunk, where she slowly stood up and dusted herself off. Her shield was at her feet, and she picked it up before taking off at a sprint for the basis of the explosion.

"Is Stephanie around here?" she heard someone ask, just as she launched herself onto a broken tree and rode it down to the ground.

"TIMBER!" she hollered, before hopping off and rolling as it hit the ground.

"Steph! You're alive!" Lena shouted, sprinting forwards to hug Stephanie. She returned the hug and laughed happily.

"Tasha was just telling me that we're missing Claire and Brenda. We know where Brenda probably is, we just need to get Claire back. How's Nathan taking it?" Lena asked in a hushed tone of voice.

"Not well," Stephanie said slowly. "Lori's having to tiptoe on eggshells around the others. They really don't trust her at all."

"I don't blame them," Lena said. "After what Loki's done, I would find it hard to trust a girl that looks like she could be his daughter."

Stephanie coughed out a laugh as the quinjet landed. "Yeah. Agent Romanoff doesn't quite... care for Nathan. It's quite funny."

"Are you two gonna quite honking like a bunch of geese and get on the quinjet?" Stark shouted.

"Yes," Stephanie said with a longsuffering sigh. "It's gonna be a loooooong plane flight."

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Brenda opened her eyes as her feet landed back on the ground. She looked at herself first in confusion, noticing her green plastic fists were gone. She now had a pretty lavander shirt over her dark green tank top, with dark gray cargo pants. She had black and purple tennis shoes on as well. Her hair was dark and curly as she pulled a bit forward to examine, and tied tightly back into a pony tail.

She looked away from her hair and stared in awe at the exact replica of the SHIELD laboratory from the movie. There were lit-up screens everywhere, with a bunch of sciency stuff she didn't quite understand. She slowly stepped out of her little shadow and cautiously walked over to one screen.

She carefully enlarged a panel and frowned at the confusing graphics in front of her. She raised a finger to close the panel and hopefully go figure out what was going on, only for someone to demand, "What are you doing?!"

Brenda jerked her hand back and took a step back as Dr. Bruce Banner walked into the lab, a cup of coffee clutched in his left hand as his right hovered over an emergency button.

"I'm sorry!" Brenda wailed, throwing her hands up to show that she was unarmed. "I don't know what's going on! I was just trying to figure it out!"

"Who are you?" Banner asked, warily taking his hand off the button and walking forward.

"I'm Brenda. You're Dr. Banner, right?" she said worriedly.

"Yes..."

"Oh no... where are the others?" she asked hastily.

"Others... oh, like Captain America?"

"Yes."

"They went to Germany for secret business-"

"Apprehending Loki. Oh, this is not good, this is not good at all!" Brenda whispered fearfully, wringing her hands in front of her.

"Look, I don't know who you are, or how you know so much, but if you can go back to wherever you came from, I'd highly suggest doing so," Banner said, not unkindly.

"But I can't... I can't go back. Trust me, if I could, I would, but there are too many others here now..." Brenda whispered.

"What do you mean?" Banner asked sharply.

"Look- try not to freak out on me, please," she pleaded.

"I'll try."

"Ok. Where I come from, uh..." Brenda trailed off and steeled herself. "You-and-your-comrades-are-just-comic-book-characters-and-they-made-a-movie-about-what's-going-to-happen."

Banner frowned and looked at her carefully. "Um... come again?"

"... Nevermind. Just know that where I come from, you don't exist."

Quite suddenly the doors slammed open and several armed men entered the room, with guns pointing at Brenda. "Freeze! Put your hands where we can see them!" one shouted at her.

Brenda's eyes widened and she obeyed, quite obviously completely terrified. "Ok! Just don't shoot!" she begged.

"You're coming with us," the same man said, and Brenda shot Banner a fearful look as she slowly walked forward. Evidently, she wasn't fast enough, because one of the man reached out and roughly dragged her to them.

She yelped at his tight grip and Banner said, "Hey, be careful! She's as clueless as we are!"

"Yessir," one of the men said. "But Fury gave us orders to apprehend the person and take her to a holding cell."

Brenda whimpered softly and hugged herself silently, tucking her head forward in fear. "Be nice to her," Banner ordered. "She's obviously very scared right now."

The men nodded and led Brenda away from the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to my one lovely reviewer! Enjoy this chapter with its liberal mentions of Doctor Who.

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As soon as they stepped off the quinjet, they were surrounded by agents and quickly escorted to a large room. There was a small figure, seated in the corner, balled up tightly. With a cry of happiness, Stephanie sprinted forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around the shorter girl. "Brenda!"

Brenda sobbed softly, hugging Stephanie back tightly. "Thank goodness you're here. I almost unleashed the Hulk!" she said quietly.

"You did what?! Oh..."

"I popped out of nowhere, had no idea what was going on, and was absolutely terrified, because there was this scientist and he was looking really mad and then some people came and they brought me here-"

"Shhhhhhhhhh, calm down," Lena said soothingly as they all gathered around Brenda, group hugging. "You're safe and you're here now. We're here."

They slowly drifted into different seats, still grouping closely together. Stephanie took the opportunity to look around and see if everyone was alright and unharmed.

Nathan had his head in his hands. He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and black cargo pants, with twin handguns and an ammo belt. He had fingerless gloves that matched the Black Widow's, complete with sparks at the beginnings of his fingers. He had short, spiky red hair that was everywhere, and, as he looked up to meet Stephanie's gaze, sad brown eyes.

She quickly looked away and focused on Lena. She had never been small, but she was now more muscular and wearing a close replica of Thor's outfit. Her flowing red cape made Stephanie remember- *Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?* She hid a giggle as Lena blew a curly piece of blonde hair out of her face, and bright green eyes met hers.

Again she looked away and focused on Brenda. She was brushing her straggly brown hair back, with a worried expression on her face. Her purple short sleeved shirt was several sizes too big, making her vanish in the folds, with closer fitted khaki pants. She smiled wanly at Stephanie and waved as she moved on.

Tasha was still dressed in her Iron Man armor, but she had removed the helmet and had her short brown bob wisping around her chin. She had perky green eyes and a cheerful expression on her face.

Lori was talking cheerfully with Tasha about something. She had a black trench coat on and a white shirt, with black pants and a bright green scarf. Her black hair was tightly slicked back into a braid, with the end flipped up. Her eyes were a very bright green, and as Stephanie's eyes travelled up to the top of her head...

Stephanie abruptly stood and walked to the center of the room. She addressed the room at large loudly. "I have a lot of important questions, but chief among them is this." She whirled on her heels and pointed at Lori. "What, in the name of sanity, have you got on your head?"

Lori straightened proudly. "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool."

Stephanie raised one eyebrow. "Riiiiiiight." She caught Nathan's and Brenda's eyes and nodded.

Abruptly Brenda stood up, yanked the fez of Lori's head, and threw it into the air as Stephanie shouted, "Pull!" Nathan yanked out his handgun and shot the hat into a million pieces- all before Lori could shout more than, "HEY!"

Stephanie held up her hand to Brenda for a high five as they heard footsteps pounding outside.

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"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce remarked dryly as they looked at Loki, stuck in his cage, on the small screen in front of him.

"He's gonna drag this out... Thor, what's his play?" Rogers asked.

"He has an army, called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor any world known," the demi-god rumbled. "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army. From outer space." Rogers sounded extremely skeptical.

"So he's building another portal... That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor started slightly and asked, "Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist-" Banner started to explain, but Thor cut him off.

"He is a friend."

"Loki has them under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours," Romanoff said quietly, from her place kneeling next to a screen.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Rogers said.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him."

"Have a care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother," Thor said firmly.

"He killed eighty people in two days," Romanoff said incredulously.

Thor looked slightly uncomfortable, before saying, "He's adopted."

"What's got me worried is the iridium. Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Banner said urgently, tapping the table with his pen.

The doors behind them slid open and Tony Stark- minus the famous Iron Man suit- walked in beside Agent Coulson. "It's a stabilizing agent," he said. He muttered something to Coulson and split off from him. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He passed Thor and tapped Thor's bicep. "No hard feelings, Point Break, you've got a mean swing."

He turned back to the subject at hand and continued, "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."

The others watched as he wandered over to Fury's station and said, "Uh, raise the mizenmast? Lower the topsails?"

The agents looked at him like he was insane.

"That man is playing Galaga!" he shouted suddenly, pointing at an agent. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. How does Fury do this?" Stark complained as he covered an eye and looked at the screens.

Maria Hill spoke up from her slightly lower post. "He turns."

"Sounds exhausting."

He took a few steps away from the stand and continued speaking to Banner. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked suspiciously.

"Last night," Stark said with a shrug. He noticed the incredulous looks and continued, "The packet? Selvig's notes? The Extraction Theory papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Rogers chose to ignore it and instead said, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Banner took his glasses off his nose and nervously polished them on his shirt.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English!" Stark exclaimed dramatically.

"Is that what just happened?" Rogers asked in confusion.

With a few confident strides, Stark was standing in front of Banner and stuck out his hand to shake. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks," Banner said dryly.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. Director Fury was hoping you might join him," Hill spoke up.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon," Rogers murmured.

"I don't know about that, but Fury thinks it's powered by the cube. And everyone would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men we know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand..." Thor trailed off in confusion.

"I do!" Rogers said brightly, suddenly straightening in his seat. "I understood that reference."

Stark rolled his eyes, while Banner looked rather amused.

Natasha, who had her hand to her communicator, looked up at the men. "Heads up, gentlemen. Director Fury's about to interrogate the doppelgängers."

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The door to their room slammed open and several soldiers entered, before Director Fury himself walked in, flanked with Agents Hill and Coulson.

"Why hello there!" Lori said with a large grin and slight curtsey. "Nice to meet the ringmaster of this freakshow."

Stephanie slammed her hand into the back of Lori's head and stared impassively at the Director and Agents as Lori shouted and doubled over, rubbing the back of her head. "My apologies. We have yet to train her to think before she speaks," she said.

"So, you must be...?" Tasha drawled as she leaned against the wall.

"Director Nick Fury of SHIELD. These are Agents Hill and Coulson," he said coolly.

"Nice to meet you. Tasha... Stark?" she said, looking around for confirmation.

"Oh goodness," Brenda groaned. "Just what we need. A small Stark."

"So you're his daughter?" the Director asked sharply.

"Uh- I'm pretty sure I'm not," she said. "Try clone. Mini-me, doppelgänger, whatever other synonym there is for that."

"Wooooow, you used several big words! Rest your brain," Nathan said sarcastically. "Nathan. No last name."

"You'll go as Nathan Romanoff until we can determine your birth parents," the Director said, ignoring the immediate spluttering.

"Then I suppose I would be Brenda Banner...?" Brenda said hesitantly. She drew back from the man as he looked at her. Stephanie hastily stepped in front of her and blocked his view from her.

"And you are..."

"Stephanie Rogers." She didn't say anymore, just nodded to them.

"Lena Odinson. It is a pleasure to meet you," Lena said cheerfully, sticking out a hand to shake. She slowly withdrew it as he didn't take it.

"Lori... Odinson," Lori said. Stephanie immediately walked to stand between the Director and Lori.

"We're not gonna separate you for now," the Director said soothingly. "We just want some answers as to why some very specific people suddenly have doppelgängers."

"Simple. Any of us can tell you that," Stephanie said with a brief shrug.

The room fell silent, before Fury spoke again. "And the reason is...?"

"The Avengers. It doesn't really take a genius to put two and two together- or in this case, three and four."

"There's only six of you here," Agent Hill spoke up for the first time.

"Think about it, Agent Hill." Stephanie moved to sit down as Brenda quietly spoke. "Where did we appear?"

"Miss Rogers, Odinson and Stark and Mr. Romanoff all appeared in Stuttgart. Miss Odinson wasn't far behind. Miss Banner appeared in the same lab as Dr. Banner... meaning..."

Comprehension dawned on the three's faces.

"That's right. Currently, Claire Barton is MIA. We all believe that she could be in enemy territory as we speak- which makes it all the more imperative that we find the Tesseract."

Immediately all weapons were bristling on the soldiers. "How do you know about the Tesseract?" Director Fury asked quickly.

Tasha laughed humorlessly. "Put the weapons down- THEN we'll talk."

Slowly, with a nod from Fury, the guns all came down. Lena nodded her thanks and spoke.

"We know about the Tesseract- all of us- because we know what will happen. Or, at least, what's supposed to happen. Because we're here, something could be completely different now."

She stopped, and Lori picked up the thread. "Just by existing, we could set off a chain reaction. Steph saved a little girl in Germany- we don't know if she died or not in the original timeline. She could become the mother of the next great dictator of Europe."

"Way to make saving someone's life negative," Stephanie muttered. "Or, she could grow up to invent the cure for cancer. Either way, she has a chance at life now."

"We shouldn't exist- not a single one of us. We could be changing the timeline as we sit here. You could have been doing something entirely different in the last timeline- but now, it's changed because you're here interrogating us. Could be that- Oh my gosh. Guys- is this supposed to be-" Tasha cut off.

Nathan's head snapped up. "The 'lost creatures' speech- no, the 'monster' speech. Have you talked to Loki yet?"

"Yes..."

"Good. So that's on target. What was supposed to be next?" Stephanie asked the room at large.

"As I recall, there was a gap," Lena said. The teens were absolutely ignoring anyone watching over video cameras and the three clueless SHIELD agents in the room.

"Good. That'll allow for any other stuff going on."

Fury had had enough of this back and forth that the younger set was doing and decided to take control of the situation again. "About this 'other stuff' you're talking about. You're going to be escorted to meet your... ah..."

"Meet the people we're clones of?" Nathan asked. He looked rather upset.

"Precisely. Agent Hill will escort you to get better clothes if necessary."

"Are they going to be catsuits? Because in that case-"

"How about no?" Lena, Lori, and Stephanie chorused, putting both hands up in the air in the universal 'slow down' symbol.


	4. Chapter 4

Halloween was tonight! YAYYYYYY FOR CANDYYYYYY!

Why yes, I did eat about fifteen pieces of chocolate. How did you know?

My friends and I had a blast. I dressed up as Cap, Jazzy Pseudonym was Loki, and a few other people that you wouldn't know came as Fury and Thor. That was fun. :3

So yes! Enjoy le story!

(0)^_^(0)

"So what do you make of all this?" Natasha asked as the screens shut down.

"They're... entertaining," Banner said dryly.

"You can say that again. But they can't be all bad. I mean, Rogers' clone quoted Doctor Who," Stark said, looking at the others gathered nearby. "Rogers' was funny. Mine was funnier."

"What, with the 'we have yet to train her' thing?" Rogers asked.

"Precisely. They all seem to be really close friends," Banner said.

"What do you think of your clones?" Natasha asked.

"What do YOU think?" Stark shot right back.

"He's an annoying brat," Natasha said firmly. "That's about all I was able to gather from the plane ride."

"Well, they seem to emulate us a bit. So what does that say for you?" Stark said, teasing glinting in his eyes.

"Shut up. Yours isn't much better," Natasha retorted.

"Hey, mine isn't that bad. She's like me. Probably genius, not rich, bit of a playgirl, kind of a philanthropist."

"Well, Stephanie seems to be a rule follower," Rogers said. "She's definitely trying to corral the others."

"Like you," Stark said.

"You did say they have our personalities," Banner said. "Brenda definitely seemed shy, scared, not much of a talker."

"So like our resident genius over here," Stark said, pointing at Banner.

Banner shrugged noncommitally. "Lori breaks the rules. She's nothing like what I've seen of Loki."

"And Lena is loud, proud, and bold as brass. Same as the demi-god. Aaaaand- speak of the devil," Stark said as the doors opened and Thor came in with Nick Fury and Agents Hill and Coulson.

"Young Lena is indeed much like me," Thor boomed as he walked inside and sat. "As the others are similar to you."

"They should be arriving at any moment," Fury said. "All of the young adults will be coming here. Lori will be arriving with Lena. I think it best to keep her away from Loki at this point in time. Thor, if you would care to look after them both..."

"It would be my pleasure," Thor boomed.

"Good. Captain, I suggest that you take Stephanie to the gym and train her. Agent Romanoff, don't break Nathan. Mr. Stark, I think you should go to the lab with the Banners-"

"That makes it sound like I have a child," Banner mumbled.

Stark laughed at that. "Get in line- we all suddenly sound like we're parents. This is going to be awkward."

The doors slid open and the younger teens stepped inside cautiously. Stephanie was at the head, wearing a short sleeve v-neck dark red shirt and blue shorts that went to her knees instead of her uniform. "Hello?" she asked warily, eyeing all of them.

All eyes seemed to drift towards Lori, and Stephanie took a huge step to her left to block her from view. "Like I told Stark, we've been friends for years. If you try to hurt her, you WILL have to go through me." She was as calm as if she was just stating a fact of life.

Brenda slid around Stephanie and walked forward hesitantly, extending a hand to Banner. "We've already met. Though not formally."

Banner took her hand and shook it a few times, releasing and leading Brenda over to the table. They started quietly talking to each other, so quietly that no one else could hear them.

On the other hand, Stark was anything but quiet when Tasha walked forward. "Hello there, mini-me!" he said loudly, sticking his hand out for her to shake.

"I believe you've got it backwards- YOU'RE MY mini-me," Tasha said with a smirk.

Stephanie slowly stepped away from Lori when it was clear no one was going to separate her from the group. She leaned over and whispered something in her friend's ear.

"Go," Lori said firmly. "I'll be just fine."

Stephanie nodded a bit and walked over to Rogers, sticking out her hand. "I'm Stephanie... Rogers," she said after a moment of hesitation.

"Nice to meet you, Stephanie. Call me Steve," Steve said as he took her hand and shook it.

She stood right next to him, arms crossed over her chest as she surveyed her friends. Lena was dragging Lori over to introduce her stepsister to Thor. Lori looked slightly out of place among the other pairs, with her own original absent from the gathering. Stephanie made a mental note to include her as much as possible elsewhere.

Nathan had carefully sat down beside Natasha and was quietly talking with her about something. She cut him short with a murmured few words, a very short answer to what must've been a question.

Stephanie sighed heavily as she thought of their final number, still missing from their midst. Steve heard and turned to look at her. "Are you ok?" he asked in concern.

Stephanie nodded a bit and said, "Yeah. Just thinking of Claire... and what she must be going through..."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," he said reassuringly.

"I'm sure she will too," Stephanie said quietly. "But it's after she's safe that worries me."

He frowned a bit. "What do you mean?"

"If she's forced to do something against her will- like kill someone- if-when the Tesseract leaves, she'll be left with the repercussions of her actions, even though they weren't her own." Stephanie shrugged. "She'll probably need a therapist. I hope not."

Steve stood there for a moment, rather awkwardly, before saying, "Do you want me to teach you how to fight?"

Stephanie beamed up at him. "Yep! I wanted to ask, but I was a bit afraid to..."

"No need to be afraid. Let's go," he said, and lead the way as Stephanie waved goodbye to her friends and followed.

Lena waved goodbye to her friend and turned back to Thor, speaking rapidly about lightning. "-and a bit of lightning hit the tree in front of our house when we were little, remember that, Lori?" she asked, turning to her step-sister, who was standing slightly away, looking a bit bored. She nodded a bit, trying to look vaguely interested.

Lena sighed and her shoulders sagged a bit. "Sorry, sis. I'm trying..." she trailed off.

"No- sis, it's not that," Lori said, sounding a bit upset as she stepped forward and hugged Lena's shoulders. "It's just that they won't let me talk to Loki. No offense- you're really nice," she said hastily to Thor, "but I am Loki's mini-me."

"I understand," Thor said, resting a large hand gently on her shoulder. "What would you say to going and getting some coffee? I do not believe it to be as good as it was at the lady Jane Foster's town, but it shall do."

Lena nodded enthusiastically, as Lori grinned up at him. "That sounds most excellent!" Lori said firmly. "Let's go!"

Tasha sat down across from Brenda. "Getting along well?" she asked cheerfully.

Brenda looked up from a small screen Banner had pulled up. "Oh, hey Tasha. Yeah. Bruce was just showing me what all of the things in the lab mean."

"So it's Bruce, now, is it?" she asked, with a teasing glint in her eye.

"I did hear you calling Stark 'Tony'," Brenda shot back. "So don't go pointing fingers."

Tasha whistled and sat back in her seat. "Ow! Got a little bit of sting, do ya?" she asked.

"Only if you poke a bit." Brenda pushed herself to her feet. Tasha held in a laugh- Brenda was only about a foot and a half taller than Bruce. Even though the latter was still sitting down. "Are we going to the lab, Bruce?" she asked.

He nodded and stood up as well. He was about a foot taller than Brenda standing up. "Ok. Let's go," he said firmly and led the way out of the room.

Stark clapped a hand onto Tasha's shoulder. "What say we follow them?" he asked her. "Spidey-clone and the Widow have vanished off to God-knows-where. Just us left."

Tasha started and looked around. Sure enough, she and the billionaire were the only ones left. "Oh- ok. Let's go!" she said cheerfully and shoved her chair back. She rose to her feet and followed behind Tony Stark as he left the main bridge.

(0)^_^(0)

*Wham wham*

"Good. Try again. Harder, this time. Make that bag swing."

*Wham wham*

"Tighten your fists up- you're slipping. Again."

*Wham wham*

"Much better. Take a break," Steve Rogers instructed.

Stephanie sighed and walked over to the boxing ring. She sat on the side and took a sip of her water bottle, sighing as she took a deep breath and wiped her mouth off. Steve came over and sat beside her, stretching his long legs in front of him.

"So, you've never fought before?" he asked.

Stephanie shook her head. "Nope. Not fighting against someone, at least. I've taken self-defense courses before, though."

"Did you learn a lot?"

"Um. Let me put it this way. What I've learned from you in- what? one hour?- would have taken me about five lessons to learn."

"So not a lot then."

"Yeah," Stephanie said with a brittle laugh.

They sat in silence for a few more moments, before Stephanie suddenly said, "Thank you."

"For what?" Steve asked in confusion.

"For taking the time to teach me this," Stephanie said with a shrug. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Steve said. "Ready to get back to work?"

Stephanie groaned good-naturedly, and Steve laughed. "Ok. How about we take a break from punching and work on kicking?"

She brightened considerably. "Sure!"

They stood up and walked back to the punching bag. Stephanie unwrapped her hands and planted her feet about shoulder-width apart.

"I'm gonna start you on a roundhouse kick. Set yourself like you're about to punch something."

Stephanie did as he requested.

"Alright. Now pivot your right side away a bit, so that your left side is facing the target."

She did so.

"Bring your leg up and around- make sure to pivot!- and slam the inside bit of your foot into the side of the target."

She pivoted and gently placed her foot on the punching bag. "Just setting up," she told Steve.

She reset herself and stared at the target, imagining a bully or someone she very much disliked. Stephanie took a deep breath, swung around, and slammed her foot into the punching bag. It swung a bit, quivering quite a lot, before Steve held onto it to make it stop moving.

"Nice try. Try again. How's your balance?"

"Decent," Stephanie said with a shrug. "I wouldn't say it's my forte or anything, but it's ok."

"Alright. Try to keep a bit more of your weight on your left foot. Ready to try again?"

Stephanie nodded and set herself up again. She readied, focused, and pivoted again, slamming her foot into the side of the bag. Again it swung, but no cigar.

"One more time. Really put some spin on that kick," Steve said encouragingly.

Stephanie nodded. "Ok. One last go."

She set her balance firmly, bouncing a little bit on her toes until she was sure she was evenly set. *Breathe in... breathe out...* she ordered herself.

Her vision started to tunnel in as she stared at the punching bag. She waited until it was almost tiny pinpricks of light- and struck.

Her foot was as fast as lightning as it shot out and slammed into the bag. That time, it was dead on, and the two super soldiers both knew it, as the bag flew off the hook and into the punching bag next to it.

"Nicely done!" Steve said with a grin, clapping loudly.

Stephanie was bouncing up and down, ponytail dancing happily with a huge smile on her face. "Yay! Thank you!" she shouted, and before Steve could say anything, she hugged him around his middle.

It was an entertaining sight for any outsider. Steve looked rather confused as he gently patted Stephanie's back. She drew back after a moment, blushing a tiny bit.

"Um... sorry," she said, obviously very embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. Shall we go back to punching?" Steve asked, and laughed at her groan of discontent.


	5. Chapter 5

Who else is being a Wrimo? :) Cause I am! Leave your current wordcount in the comments. Mine is 2,889.

Enjoy the chapter!

(0)^_^(0)

"Well, Rogers' serum carried to Stephanie," Tasha remarked from her position on the only empty table. She was staring, rather boredly, at a screen dangling directly in front of her face.

Brenda sighed as she walked by and pulled the screen to a more suitable distance of one foot away from Tasha's face instead of the previous three inches. Tasha responded by pulling it back to its previous position.

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked suspiciously from his place next to the staff, which he was running some sort of scanner over.

"Oh, nothing much. Just watching Stephanie training with Rogers and Lori, Lena, and Thor enjoying coffee. You?"

"Trying to figure this da** thing out," Tony growled.

"Language," Brenda said calmly as she stopped across from Bruce to see what he was doing.

"Yeah- sweetie, I don't give a f***," he said.

Brenda spun to glare at him. "I said, *Language*," she snapped. "If you say that around Stephanie or Lena, I WILL hurt you."

Tony took a step away from the computer he was using and put both hands up. "Sorry, sweet cheeks," he drawled. "Won't make THAT mistake again."

"You better not," Brenda said coldly, before turning back to the scepter.

Tony turned to Tasha, who had been watching the exchange with raised eyebrows. *What the h***!* he mouthed at her.

She just grinned.

They lazed around for a while- well, Tasha mostly- before Tony said, "Y'know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors are all R&D. You'd love it, it's a candy land."

"Thanks but- last time I was in New York I kind of- broke- Harlem," Bruce muttered, focusing on the staff.

"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension, no surprises-" Tony used some sort of small handheld screwdriver to poke Banner in the side.

"Ow!" he yelled and jumped a little bit. Brenda slapped the object out of Tony's hands with barely a thought, ignoring his slight wince.

"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted as the doors opened and Stephanie and Steve came in.

"Nothing?" Tony asked, watching Bruce closely for any other reaction. He scooped the thing back up again and tapped it in the palm of his hand a few times.

"Are you nuts?" Steve demanded, smoothly stepping a bit to his right, shielding Stephanie partially.

"Jury's out," Tony said casually, before turning to look at Bruce again. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

"Drugs are not cool," Tasha said lazily, opening another window and examining the agents walking below the camera.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Stephanie asked rhetorically, stealing Steve's line.

"Funny things are," Tony said as he moved on to another screen and set the pointer down.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny- no offense, Doc. Especially now that we have kids aboard," Steve said, ignoring the three girl's grumbles about his terminology for them.

"No-uh- it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle- pointy things." Bruce gestured vaguely to the thing on the table, which Brenda picked up as she passed and stuck in her pocket.

"You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut," Tony said, pointing his finger at Bruce.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mister Stark," Steve said edgily. Stephanie laid her hand on his arm gently and stepped out from behind him, walking over to where Brenda and Tasha were and looking over Tasha's shoulder at the screen.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now, why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked.

"He's a spy. Captain, he is the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony picked up a small shiny bag and ate something out of it. He pointed at Bruce and said, "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

Bruce shifted away from Tony's pointing finger. "Aah- I just wanna finish my work here and..." Bruce trailed off and seemed to be thinking of something.

"Bruce?" Brenda asked. Or she seemed to be asking, but was really prompting.

"'A warm light for all mankind.' Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube," Bruce suddenly said.

"I heard it," Steve said, sounding puzzled.

"I didn't," Stephanie murmured, eyes transfixed on the screen.

"Well, I think that was meant for you." Bruce pointed at Stark, who held out the silver baggie of food- some sort of fruit. He declined and continued, "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower?" Steve asked incredulously. "That big ugly- building in New York?" He changed words half-way through the sentence, after Stark shot him a glare. Tasha muttered something uncomplimentary about Steve and Stephanie slapped the back of her head, still watching the screen.

"It's powered by an arc reactor- like that thing," Brenda said quietly as she gestured in Tony's general direction. "It's an energy source, supposed to be clean power. That building will run itself for... what? A year?"

"It's just the prototype," Tony said airily, waving his hand casually. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now, that's what she's getting at."

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they even doing in the energy business in the first place?" Steve asked.

"I should probably look into that as soon as my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files." Tony walked over to the computer and opened a window, examining a progress bar.

"Excuse me?" Stephanie and Steve chorused as Stephanie finally stepped away from the screen.

"Jarvis has been running it ever since I hit the bridge. Within a few hours, I'll know every dirty little secret SHIELD has to hide."

"And you wonder why they didn't want you on board," Steve murmured. Stephanie walked to stand next to him silently, biting her lip.

"An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome," Tasha said, eyes still glued to the screen.

"Hey, that's my line!" Tony whined.

"It was," she shot back.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them," Steve said, taking a half-step forward.

"Following's not really my style," Tony commented.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve said.

"Out of the people in this room, which one is A) wearing a spangley outfit and B) not of use?"

Stephanie winged a small pen at Tony. It thumped off his head as he jumped and yelled, "OW!" She half-smirked and raised an eyebrow as he looked like he was going to try to get retribution.

"Steve- tell me none of this seems fishy to you," Bruce pleaded, finally looking up from the scepter.

He was silent for a moment, before finally saying, "Just find the cube." He turned and walked to the door of the lab, pausing so Stephanie could catch up. She smiled at him as he let her through the door before him and paused as the doors closed behind them.

Steve looked right, left, and right again, before he gently tapped Stephanie's shoulder and whispered, "Not that way. Follow me."

(0)^_^(0)

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony asked incredulously once he was sure Steve and Stephanie couldn't hear him. "Wondering if they shouldn't've just kept him on ice."

"The guy's not wrong about Loki; he does have the jump on us," Bruce murmured, brow furrowed as he focused on the data coming in from the scepter.

"What he's got-" Tony started to say, but Tasha cut him off.

"-is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I REALLY wanna be there when it does."

Tony shot a glare at her as Bruce said, "And I'll read about it."

"Uh huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

"Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." Bruce shuddered, and Brenda silently slid off the tabletop and padded over to where he was standing, touching his arm briefly in a comforting gesture.

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart," Tony said, tapping his arc reactor. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a terrible privilege."

Tasha reflexively put her own hand to her chest. Her eyes widened and she frowned as her hand hit metal. "Ducky," she muttered to herself as her own smaller arc reactor started glowing as brightly as Tony's was.

"But you can control it," Brenda murmured softly. No one had noticed Tasha's new accessory yet.

"Because I learned how," Tony countered.

"It's different."

Tony walked over to the hanging screen Bruce was working on and swiped it clean, forcing Bruce to meet his eyes. "Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure... shoulda killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk- the... other guy- saved my life? That's nice. It's a sentiment. Save it for what?" Bruce asked sarcastically.

"I guess we'll find out," Tony said with a shrug as he stepped away from the screen and Bruce pulled the windows back up.

"You may not enjoy that," he commented, as Brenda hesitantly raised a level a little. He looked at her, startled, and nodded.

"You just might."

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie followed Steve down the long corridors. The hallways gradually grew more shadowy and less crowded than the main decks.

Stephanie came to a screeching halt when she realized that Steve was no longer walking beside her. He was looking inside a dark warehouse-type cargo bay. She fell back to his side and peered in as well.

He suddenly took a step back and wrapped his fingers around the edge of the door. Stephanie slid her fingers in as best as she could, getting barely more grip than he had, and together, they slowly forced the door open.

Stephanie reached for the light switch, but Steve stopped her and put a finger to his lips. "Keep a low profile," he murmured softly, and ventured into the cargo bay a bit more.

Stephanie walked up to a stack of boxes that was slightly taller than she was. She put a booted foot experimentally in a crack and boosted herself up. Two hands suddenly were lifting her up, pushing her foot up, and she scrambled quietly up onto the pallet top.

Steve just jumped onto the pallet and boosted himself onto the catwalk that ran around the warehouse. "Showoff," Stephanie muttered and jumped as high as she could. Steve caught her hand and manually pulled her up.

"Thanks," she murmured and dusted herself off. She adjusted her shirt and pants and followed, cat-quiet.

Steve walked silently down the catwalk, keeping his footsteps muffled as he looked for any sign of something amiss. Stephanie spotted the crates that they were looking for and paused to see if he could figure out where it was.

Steve gave no indication of having noticed it, and Stephanie tugged at his sleeve gently. He turned to look at her and she pointed. "Good eye," he whispered and gestured for her to follow.

They popped the locks on two of the crates and slid the tops open. Stephanie gulped as she stared at the huge gun before her. Steve heaved a heavy sigh and picked the gun up.

"Let's go have a chat with the honored Director."


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the long wait! NaNoWriMo has been keeping me busy. 8,500 words exactly so far. :) What about you?

Enjoy!

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie followed silently behind Steve, keeping her footstep sounds to a minimum. She kept her gaze firmly fixed on the back of his head, ignoring the stares they were getting.

They reached the lab just in time to hear Tony ask, "What exactly is Phase Two?"

Steve threw the gun onto the table next to Tasha with a clang, making Brenda and Tasha both jump. "Phase Two is they use the Tesseract to make weapons," he said coldly. "Sorry, computer was running a little slow for me."

"Rogers, just because-"

"I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" Tony asked frigidly, spinning the screen around to face the Director. There was a holograph of a more advanced gun on display for all to see.

"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

Stephanie nodded to everyone and tapped Brenda and Tasha's arms. "Let's go. Group meeting of the younger set," she muttered, shooting a worried glance at the arguing grown-ups.

They passed Nathan, Lori, and Lena on their way out and snagged ahold of them, nodding to Thor and Natasha as they dragged their younger counterparts away. "Group meeting," Stephanie hissed in Lori's ear when it looked like they were about to protest. "Just come on. We don't want to be in there at this time anyways."

They quickly made their way to Stephanie's room, where she entered and shut the door to her messy bathroom. She sat on the bed and gestured for everyone to take a seat.

"Order, order!" Lori shouted pompously, banging her fist on the steel table. "This calls to order the first council of war of the Young Avengers- Ow!" She grabbed her fist and held it close to her chest as Stephanie sighed.

"Calm down, Lori. This is super serious. We need to know where each of us is going to be so we can cause the least amount of damage to the timeline," Nathan said firmly.

"I don't remember this scene from the movie," Brenda said. "Mind laying it out?"

"Sure," Stephanie said. "Brenda, Banner is in the lab. The floor buckles, dropping him and Agent Romanoff into the lower decks of the ship. He Hulks out, chases Romanoff, Thor intercepts seconds before he kills her. You need to keep out of the way so he doesn't kill you."

She turned to Nathan. "Nate, same for you. Keep out of the way and be ready to escort Romanoff to the catwalk where she fights Barton. Keep out of the way, look for Claire and knock her out if she's been mind-controlled. I don't care that she's your girlfriend."

Tasha nodded before Stephanie could speak. "Stark tries to fix the engine. I'm gonna do my best to assist him, might be able to grab Rogers and drag him back up onto the catwalk. Good?"

"Good. Lori, Lena. Lori's gonna be talking with Loki. You need to be careful. If he escapes he may try to take you with him. It is up to you whether you go or not. If you do, God with you. If you don't I'll see you around. Lena, try to keep Thor from going into the cage. I don't care if it messes up the timeline. If he does go into the cage, try not to go with him."

"What about you?" Lena asked.

"Me? I'll be assisting Rogers, Stark and Tasha with the engine. That's basically it."

"Right. Remember your positions. Get going!" Nathan said and they quickly broke, unaware of the security camera watching from the corner of the room.

(0)^_^(0)

Lori split from the other Young Avengers and made her way over to Loki's cage. Nathan followed her after a brief pause while Stephanie, Lena, Brenda, and Tasha went back to their older counterparts.

They walked in in the middle of the argument.

There was a lot of babbling that no one understood as they slowly drifted off, with brief unnoticed handclasps, whispered 'Good Luck's, and a hug or two. Nathan came in seconds later and stood next to Romanoff, who was trying not to argue with Banner. Brenda was standing next to him, trying to keep him calm while remaining calm herself. Tasha walked over to Stark, who was fighting with Rogers. Stephanie sidled over to his side and met all the eyes before Fury said, "Put the staff down, Dr. Banner."

Silence fell as everyone turned to look at him. Brenda quickly took the staff and put it back on the stand, shuddering a bit as she grasped it and wiping her hands off as if tainted.

"Oh, right. Sorry," he said smoothly, looking at Brenda. She looked back at him, eyes wide and unemotional. "Thank you."

She nodded and resumed her silent stare at the floor.

"Yeah- why are you sticking so close to us all of a sudden?" Stark asked suspiciously. "That's definitely new."

"Not so new, surely," Tasha said easily.

"You're a mini-me. Lying doesn't work."

Stephanie opened her mouth to try her best to worm her way out of trouble, when suddenly a beeping sound started going off. Banner- with Brenda right at his heels, went to check the computer. His eyes widened and, as the Young Avengers tensed, whispered, "Oh my-"

*BOOM!*

As predicted, the floor dropped out from under Romanoff, Nathan, Banner, and Brenda. Romanoff's foot was trapped as Nathan struggled to pull her out. "Put on the suit!" Rogers shouted at Stark, only for Stephanie to echo it to Tasha. The two grinned and sprinted out of the lab, leaving the older men to catch up with them.

"Agent Romanoff, do you copy?"

"Yes- I copy. We're ok." Her voice lost some of it's assuredness as she looked at Banner and said, "Aren't we?"

Brenda frantically tried to calm him down, gesturing for Nathan to help free Natasha. He did as Natasha said the fateful words, "Banner, I swear on my life-"

"YOUR LIFE?" Banner roared angrily.

"Run!" Brenda hissed to them. Natasha's foot slipped free and Nathan helped her stand.

"Are you-"

"I said, RUN!"

(0)^_^(0)

Tasha and Tony shot up to examine the engines as Stephanie and Steve sprinted to the coolant system.

"We gotta get the superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors to work on dislodging the debris. I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Tony said quickly.

Stephanie pulled the door open and the panel out. "It seems to run on some form of electricity," Steve said dryly as he examined the switches,

"Well, you're not wrong," Tasha said, equally dry.

Stephanie watched the doorway carefully, waiting for the guards to pop out and start shooting. She wasn't disappointed- before long they appeared, and she launched herself at them, using the element of surprise to her advantage.

She took two out before she was forced to retreat, under a hail of gunfire. Some barely missed her, others singed her skin, and she hissed in pain before picking up a gun, checking the cartridge, and mowing them down.

"Ok, the relays are intact! What's our next move?" Steve shouted.

"Even if I cleared the rotors this thing won't reengage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push," Tony reported as he hovered back to check his handiwork. Tasha dropped one piece of debris and hovered next to him.

"Well, if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded!" Steve said.

"That stater control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage mag lab and that should-" Stark said before Steve said angrily, "Speak English!"

Tony gave a longsuffering sigh. "See that red lever?" he asked.

"Yeah," Stephanie said, pointing it out to him.

"Pull it. It'll give us enough time to get out," Tasha said.

"Enough time for me to get out," Tony corrected.

She sighed. "Fine."

Tony vanished into the engine and Tasha watched worriedly from high above as he began pushing. The brain-washed agents chose that precise moment to appear and begin firing.

Steve and Stephanie had to retreat back to the edge, blocking their faces to protect themselves as best as possible. Unable to prevent it, Steve slipped and began falling.

He grabbed onto the cord at the last moment. Stephanie latched onto the bent railing and reached out her hand as he shimmied up the rope to reach her. Right before he clasped her hand, a bullet whizzed by her ear, and she instinctively flinched- and let go of the railing.

Her foot slipped, and she felt the ground vanish from under her feet. Her eyes widened, and she twisted around to watch as the Helicarrier began slowly vanishing from her sight.

"No no no no no- STEPHANIE!" Steve shouted as he reached solid ground and pulled the lever.

Fear clouded her mind, and she spread her arms to slow her descent as much as possible. She had an idea that she'd go splat when she hit the ground, but tried to focus on the fact that the others were fighting their own battles on the ship.

Quite suddenly, two arms wrapped tightly around her middle and she was blasted upwards. "Tasha! Thank God!" she said, relief filling her voice.

"Tasha's got you?" Steve asked. "Thank God."

"I'm ok," she said, voice shaking terribly. "Well, I am now."

"Good! I'm glad," Stark wheezed out.

(0)^_^(0)

Brenda was thrown ten feet back into a steel pole and laid there for a moment, body twisted around the pole at awkward angles.

She slowly rose to her feet and trembled, anger filling her veins. How dare the Hulk do that to her? She was just trying to help-

She didn't know what was happening, but a large presence shouldered forward angrily and, bewildered, she was shunted to the back of her mind.

"What's going on?!" she shouted.

"Hulk SMASH!" was her only answering bellow.

(0)^_^(0)

"RUN!" Nathan hollered, grabbing Natasha's hands and pulling her away from the Hulk. He threw Brenda across the room as she tried to calm him down and then turned around to chase after them.

From behind him, they heard a very loud, "HULK SMASH!" A smaller figure jumped onto the Hulk's back and Natasha stood, shell shocked, at the sight of Mini-Hulk trying to keep Big-Hulk's attention.

"Just take it and run with it," Nathan hissed. "Let's go. Before they-"

Mini-Hulk jumped off of Big-Hulk's back and roared at him. Apparently Hulks had their own language, and whatever Mini-Hulk had said roughly translated into "You smash big one, I smash young one."

"Run!" Nathan shouted and they took off, splitting up as the Hulks did.

They chased each other around the lower decks of the Helicarrier for a while, before abruptly being cut off by Lena and Thor. They collapsed next to each other, breathing heavily, before Fury spoke quickly to them.

"It's Barton! He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?"

At the exact same moment, they spoke to Fury. "This is Agent/Nathan Romanoff. I copy."

(0)^_^(0)

"Come on," Loki said quietly, as chaos erupted in the ship. Lori looked at the god of mischief, confusion present in her eyes.

"Whatchu talking bout, Loki?" Lori was in the holding cell room, talking with Loki when the alarms had gone off. She had no idea what to do, so she simply stayed put.

"It's time to go," he said simply. "All good things come to an end."

"I can't leave my friends," Lori said firmly with a frown. "Besides, the cameras will spot you."

"You honestly don't think a mortal contraption will get in the way of my plans? I thought you were my... 'doppelgänger'?" Loki smirked. "Magic can do many things. Including turning off cameras."

"I'm not going to simply betray my friends!"

"I'm afraid this isn't open for discussion, you're coming with me."

At that moment, Thor burst into the room, Lena at his heels. "BROTHER!" he exclaimed, running at Loki. But Thor didn't notice what he was running at wasn't Loki, but a holo duplicate. Lori noticed, but found herself not doing a thing to stop him.

But Lena noticed.

"THOR, stop!" Lena yelled, tackling Thor. But it didn't quite work the way she had planned, since both of them fell into the cage, and Loki closed it.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki asked, as Lori looked wildly between her original and her step sister.

"Lori!" Lena yelled, standing up. "Stop this madness!"

"Is it?" Lori asked, "Is it really madness? I know what it feels like- to live in a sibling's shadow. This isn't madness, it's sanity-" Loki turned to look at her. But Lori was all talk, no matter what happened, she was good. And she loved Lena. But all the silent years living with her sister being favored, no matter how true, had hurt.

"The humans think us immortal. Shall we test that?" Loki asked, hand hovering over the ejection button.

"Move away, please."

Agent Coulson stepped into the room. He held a gun in his hand, deathly serious.

"Oh no..." Lori whispered. "Not this scene..." Lena's eyes widened.

"Lori you can't let this happen, you're no murderer." Coulson looked at the two curiously, wondering what they knew.

"You like this?" he asked. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Want to find out?"

Loki raised his hands, stepping away from the control panel.

"You too, mini-Loki," Coulson nudged the weapon at her.

"Don't you be pointing that thing at me, Agent," Lori said, scowling. "I'm a good guy."

"Are you?"

She fell silent. "As far as I'm concerned."

Loki suddenly vanished, replaced by a duplicate in the blink of an eye. Coulson didn't even notice what had happened.

"NO!" Lori exclaimed, running behind Coulson as the real Loki raised his scepter. Lori flung herself between the god of mischief and the agent. He paused. "You will not kill him," she commanded. "I will not let this happen." Surprisingly, he lowered the scepter.

Loki sighed. "I will grant this one wish, but do not expect any more favors from me." Lori smiled, as Loki waved his hands and Coulson fell to the ground.

"Brother- what did you do?!" Thor boomed, banging his hammer against the dome.

"He's asleep, Thor. Though I can't promise the same fate for you." Before Lori could protest, Loki jammed the button down, and the cage detached and fell towards the ground. Thor grabbed Lena with one hand, protecting her as they fell.

"Hold on," Loki said, taking Lori's arm and teleporting away.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm going camping this weekend and wanted to update before we left. I'll update again as soon as I can. Enjoy!

(0)^_^(0)

Nathan and Natasha hid back to back under the catwalk. They looked up through the bars as Clint and Claire walked swiftly along above them.

With a silent agreement, the two stepped up onto the catwalk and silently fell in step behind their chosen targets.

Quite suddenly the two turned around, and Nathan was treated to his worst fear in color- Claire's eyes were a bright blue, brighter than Stephanie's. She attacked mercilessly, using a very similar bow to Clint. He dodged her fired arrow and silently used the structure of the catwalk to his advantage, at the same time Natasha did.

Nathan concentrated firmly on locking away his emotions for Claire and instead working on kicking the Tesseract out of her mind. He readied himself for the final blow and slammed Claire's head into the side railing.

She gasped and closed her eyes. Slowly, she sat up. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Clint doing the same thing Claire was doing.

Claire stared at him, and he steeled himself for what he was about to do.

At the exact same moment, Natasha and Nathan slammed Clint and Claire's heads into the catwalk.

(0)^_^(0)

Lena, to her credit, didn't scream as they fell.

Thor grabbed her arm and tucked her close to him as they tumbled around the small cabin. She cried out softly as her arm was crushed at an awkward angle, and she shut her eyes tightly, not knowing what would happen.

Thor roared like a lion, summoned Mjolnir, and pointed it at the already weak pane of glass. Seconds before they hit the ground, he launched off the glass and Mjolnir broke through.

The cage crashed into a small bit of rock on the coast with an enormous explosion. Thor released Mjolnir and tumbled end over end, almost crushing Lena with his tight grip.

They finally rolled to a stop, and Thor quickly stood up and helped Lena to her feet. She dusted herself off and quickly asked the demi-god, "Are you ok?"

"I am fine, Lady Lena. Are you quite alright?" he asked.

She smiled bitterly. "I've just been betrayed by my stepsister. I'm as alright as I can be."

Thor gently patted her shoulder. "I understand what you are going through, child."

She nodded and looked around. "Where's Mjolnir?"

"Ah... over there," he said, pointing off to his right- her left.

Lena frowned and looked in that direction. "Can I-" she began to ask, but was cut off by Mjolnir flying through the air and landing in Thor's hand.

"Do you wish to try and wield it?" he asked.

Lena nodded hesitantly. "I don't know if it'll work," she said softly, with a brief frown.

"You can only try," Thor said, and stretched the hammer out to Lena.

She hesitantly took it, though he didn't release his grip. She made sure that if it fell, it wouldn't crush either of their feet or her hands, and then nodded. "Ready."

Thor released his grip and stepped back.

Lena stared at the hammer in her hands. It was as light as a feather to her, and she smiled proudly at being deemed worth to carry such a mighty weapon.

"Well? Are you going to try to summon lightning?" Thor asked.

Lena looked at him, set her chin and nodded determinedly. She released her left hand from the handle and slowly lifted the hammer to the sky.

Slowly, dark clouds gathered. They were much more gray than black, and it took much longer for them to gather, but never the less, lightning cracked across the sky and ended up striking her head.

Thor applauded as she lowered the hammer and held it out to him. He sighed and gestured for her to hold it for a while. She nodded, and left him to his contemplation.

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie leaned her head against Steve's shoulder and sighed. He gently patted her head as they sat against the wall.

Tasha patted Tony on the back as she passed him. He nodded in return and walked over to give Steve and Stephanie a hand up. He instead lifted Stephanie to her feet before standing himself.

Nathan met up with them. Stephanie gave him a brief side hug and asked, "Claire?" He only nodded in response, and she smiled in relief.

"Coulson's down," Fury said suddenly through their comm links.

Stephanie froze. "No," she breathed.

Steve's hand on her shoulder tightened as the radio chatter increased, only to drop off to nothing as Fury said, "The medics are here. They've called it."

She closed her eyes silently and Steve wrapped an arm around her uncomfortably in a side hug. She returned the favor and cried softly into his shirt.

They slowly moved to the main conference room and sat down. Stephanie sat in Bruce's vacated chair, between Steve and Tony. Tasha sat to Tony's left, and the rest of the chairs were vacant.

Fury pulled out the Captain America trading cards and threw them onto the table. "We found these in Coulson's pocket. Guess he never did get them signed."

Stephanie hesitantly reached out and picked one up. She touched the blood with a trembling finger and sniffed it quietly, before frowning and examining the cards a bit longer.

"Yes, Phase Two was using the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction. I never put all my chips on that number, however, and planned something... different."

He paused, and Stephanie waited for the inevitable speech.

"There was an idea- Stark knows this- to bring together a group of remarkable people so when we needed them, they could fight the battles we never could."

Stephanie lip-synced the words silently, keeping her head down and focused on the cards. Tasha leaned forwards and smiled briefly at her.

"Phil Coulson died believing in heroes," he said firmly. "I still believe in heroes."

There was silence, before Tony stood up swiftly and left the room. Tasha sprinted after him and fell in beside him as he left.

"Well... it's an old-fashioned notion," Fury said dryly.

(0)^_^(0)

Claire was fighting.

The blueness in her eyes was slowly draining. Key word- slowly. Clint was fighting the same way she was.

She could hear someone beside her. The person sat down and smoothed her hair out of her forehead. Her memory went into overdrive, trying desperately to remember.

Nathan...

She shattered the Tesseract's control in one fell swoop and started crying. Nathan quickly reached out and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her softly as he whispered meaningless words in her ear. With one hand, he released her restraints, and she wrapped both arms around him tightly.

"Shh, shh, it's ok, you're safe now," Nathan murmured into her ear. She sobbed softly and he tightened his grip, kissing the top of her head. "You're safe, right here."

He closed his own eyes and sighed deeply as he held his girlfriend tightly, ignoring the stares of the newly-freed Clint and Natasha.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered.

"I was- so scared!" she cried. "It was like there was another person who ripped me out of my mind and got in instead..."

"It's alright now. You're here. Guess who else is here?" he asked softly.

"Who?"

"Steph's here. And Tasha, and me as well."

"Really?" She hiccuped a bit, then asked, "But what about Brenda, and Lori and Lena?"

"Ah..." he bit his lip.

"Oh no-!" She started crying again.

"Hey, hey, hey, they're alright, ok? Don't even blame yourself."

She nodded into his shirt.

"Just rest, ok? Close your eyes and rest."

Claire nodded silently and leaned into him.

He listened silently to the voices of the two master assassins.

"Do you know what it's like to be unmade?"

"You know I do."

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie followed Steve to the area where Loki's cage had been. He walked in and to the edge, sighing briefly as she leaned next to him, copying his pose perfectly.

"Did he... have anyone?" Steve asked hesitantly.

"I think there was a... cellist, from Portland," Stark said. Tasha was next to him, perched on the steel rail.

Steve sighed. "He shouldn't have had to die."

"No, the b****** shouldn't have gone after Loki with only an experimental weapon," Tony said angrily.

"Hey, don't speak ill of the dead," Stephanie said.

He didn't even glance at her.

Tasha looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. Stephanie nodded.

"And Loki- Loki's a full tilt diva. And this is opening night. He wants- an audience, he wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument to the sky with his name plastered all over the side of it-" Tony came to a screeching halt.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

"Sonofab****," he muttered, and gestured for Tasha to follow him.

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie tapped on the glass, and Claire and Nathan jerked their heads up to stare at her. She pointed to the door, seconds before Clint stood up and moved into the restroom to wash his hands.

The door opened and Steve poked his head in. "Hey," he said as he saw Natasha. "We found out where the Tesseract is. Stark Tower. Can you fly a quinjet?"

"No but-" Clint came out of the restroom, wiping his hands on a towel as she pointed at him.

"I can."

"I can as well," Claire said with a brief sniffle as she rose and Stephanie walked forwards to embrace her.

"Not in this state, you aren't," Stephanie said calmly as she hugged Claire.

"Got a suit?" Steve asked Clint and Claire.

"Yeah," Clint said.

"Then suit up."


	8. Chapter 8

So- got back from camping and had an 8 page paper dumped on my head. After panicking for a few hours, I got down to it and only sent it in an hour and a half ago. But I got it done, so that's worth something, right?

Please enjoy this chapter. It heats up next chapter, I promise!

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie twirled around, staring at herself in the mirror in awe.

She strapped her boots on and pulled her striped blue and white skirt out a bit. It was tight enough to not rip if it got caught on something, but loose enough to allow to ease of movement. Her long sleeved red shirt was an exact replica of the Captain's, right down to the bars on the shoulders and the random seams everywhere.

Her suit wasn't brightly colored, but was instead dark. The colors were inverted from Captain America's own suit, meaning the blue was red and the red was blue. Only the white remained the same.

"Come on!" Tasha yelled through the headset. "They're getting ready to do the walk!"

Stephanie grinned, grabbed her smaller shield, and sprinted out the door.

She fell into step right beside Steve. Tasha was already hovering in the air, waiting patiently for Tony to take to the sky. Natasha had Nathan on her left, and Clint had Claire on his right.

They clambered into the quinjet as a mechanic stood up. "Hey, you're not authorized to be here-" he started to say, but Steve cut him off abruptly.

"Son, just don't."

(0)^_^(0)

Lori sat alone on a couch on Stark Tower. She stared out at the New York skyline, twirling a hand. Small flakes of frost gathered on each finger, as small objects levitated in the air.

The elevator door slid open. "Loki," Lori greeted him, not even turning around.

"I see you've been practicing your magic," he said with a smirk. He strode towards the window, trailing a pale finger against the glass.

"How are you faring?" he asked finally, breaking the silence between them.

"Why are you asking?" she said, raising her green eyes to meet his.

"I have heard you mortals are very fragile creatures. Both physically and emotionally."

"I'm not exactly mortal anymore," Lori laughed ruefully, gesturing at the snowflakes littered across the floor.

"I suppose not, but the principal is the same nevertheless."

"You don't seem like a very caring person. where's the sympathy coming from?" Lori stood up, walking closer to the window. Who knew that the first time she'd be in New York would be in a parallel universe?

"I am not just an unfeeling monster, Lori. Don't take advantage of my kindness."

"Fine. You want to know what I am feeling?" Lori said bitterly. "I've just betrayed my friends by 'helping' you, I'm turning into a magical Frost Giant from Norse mythology, I'm perpetually cold..." she drifted off. "And I feel so alone. So sad. I feel bitterness and remorse eating at my soul. I feel like some sort of monster and I want to make those who have wronged me pay..."

Loki looked at her, not saying a word.

"And I'm tired of people mistrusting me. I'm tired of being the least loved sibling. I feel like what I can only assume you feel like..." Lori held back tears.

"How do you deal with it?" she asked finally.

"With what?"

"With all these feelings..."

"I-I... don't..." he stammered. She glanced up at him. He was evil, yes she knew, but there was much more to Loki Laufeyson then meets the eye.

"I came here for a reason," Loki murmured. "It's nearly time. Get ready." She knew what he meant without any explanation.

The Avengers were coming.

(0)^_^(0)

Bruce Banner slowly came to his senses. The first thing he realized was that he was in a pile of rubble. The second was that he was stark naked.

"You awake now?" an old rusty voice said.

He started and turned to look at a very old man, wearing a limp grey uniform, consistent with that of a watchman.

"I said, are you awake now?" the man asked.

Bruce nodded.

"I found these for ye," the man said, throwing a pair of black pants to him. "Figured they wouldn't fit till you shrank down."

"Thanks," Bruce said. "Did- did anyone get hurt?"

"Naw. Scared the he** out of some pigeons, though. The girl's alright as well."

Bruce halted in the middle of pulling on the gray button-up shirt. "Girl?"

"Yeah, the lass that fell with you. She was like you. Bit smaller though. She shrank down 'bout an hour ago. Poor soul."

"She's alright, though?" Bruce asked, panicking.

"Something wrong with your ears, boy? She's fine. More than a little traumatized."

He climbed out of the rubble carefully, realizing that he was barefoot. "Thanks," he said to the old man.

The man was quiet for a moment, before saying, "So, which one is it?"

"Sorry?" Bruce asked in confusion.

"Are you a big guy, who gets all little, or a big guy, who sometimes blows up large?" The man demonstrated by moving his hands.

Bruce looked down at the ground. "You know, I'm not even sure," he finally said.

"One thing's for certain," the man said. "You got an affliction, son."

Bruce laughed humorlessly.

"Need to go anywhere?" the man said as they rounded the corner. Brenda was perched on a stack of wood, right next to an old bike, staring at the ground. Her too-large pants were damp with tears.

Bruce ignored the question for the moment, saying "One second" quietly to the man, before jogging to where the small girl was sitting. She looked even smaller in the stretched-out shirt and pants.

"Are you ok?" he asked her softly.

Brenda's head jerked up, and she threw herself at Bruce before he could do anything, sobbing into his dusty shirt. He awkwardly hugged her back, patting her back in an attempt to sooth her.

The man wandered over and stood at a distance, hands in his pockets, watching Brenda cry herself out into his shoulder. "Is she yours?" he asked.

"What?" Bruce asked in shock.

"Is she your daughter? You two look enough alike."

"Ah- no, no, we're not related that we know of," Bruce stammered.

Brenda seemed to run out of tears after a few moments and drew back, wiping watery eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No. Don't be," Bruce said firmly. "There is no need for you to be sorry. You've just gone through a very traumatic experience. It is completely fine for you to cry."

She smiled- barely.

"As I was saying, son- do you need to go anywhere? I got a ride if you need one," the man said.

"Stark Tower... no... yes," Bruce said with a helpless shrug.

"You gotta make up your mind, son."

"I know where I can do the most good, but it's also where I can do the most harm."

"Let me tell you something, son," the man said. "You think you don't know where to go?"

He nodded.

"Your heart knows where you want to go. Let it go, and the rest of you will follow," the man said.


	9. Chapter 9

Here ya go! Enjoy!

*DISCLAIMER: Jazzy Pseudonym has written a LOT of the Lori scenes. The credit goes to her for the Tasha/Lori scene below and a few other scenes. :) So go look at her profile! [Shameless plug]*

(0)^_^(0)

Lori stood next to the god of mischief. She heard the clanking of metal and the hum of machinery. Stark was here.

"'Bout time you showed up," Lori muttered as Tasha stepped in the room. The iron man suit was off. Tasha wore a simple brown shirt and jeans, the arc reactor shining through the fabric. Tony stood next to her, wearing similar clothes. It was uncanny how similar they looked.

Loki had the same thought and Lori and Loki turned to look at each other, mentally comparing themselves.

Black hair- check. Long black, gold, and green Asgardian cloaks and capes- check. Frost Giant blue skin on contact- check. Superintense green eyes- check. Yeah, they were pretty alike.

"Lori- you traitor!" Tasha cried, running up to her. "How dare you!"

"Wha-?" she stammered. Tasha's hands rammed against her throat before she could move. She was pinned against the wall.

"I thought you were our friend. But no- you're just like him," she growled, taking one hand off her throat to point at Loki. "Killing Coulson... That's low."

"I... didn't... kill him!" she burst out. With a grim look, Lori watched Tasha release her grip. Lori's skin was light blue and colder then ice. No one would hold on to that without getting frostbite.

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night..."

"I thought we were friends!" Lori protested. Tasha glared at her.

"Friends don't take his side." Tasha hissed. Lori turned around just in time to hear the fateful words:

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"Oh, I thought that beast wandered off," Loki said nonchalantly. Tony glared at him, shaking his drink and pouring it into a glass.

"You're going to pay for your sins, Lori," Tasha said with a frown.

"For the last time, I didn't do anything wrong!" Lori shouted, exasperated.

"Oh please, for a goddess of lies, you're an awful fibber. Fury told us what happened. You and him-" Tasha pointed angrily at Loki- "killed Coulson."

"No. He didn't..." Lori whispered. "Fury's lying..." She paused. "And you would believe him over me?"

"It's no secret, Lori. You've always been on his side. Once a traitor, always a traitor."

"Oh, that does it." Lori jumped at Tasha, who pulled out a high tech gun. It fired once, missing completely. Tasha aimed it and prepared to pull the trigger, only for Lori to kick it out of her hands and shove her out of the window.

"Deploy!" she shouted to Jarvis, as the mini Mark VII she had been working on with Tony deployed and wrapped around her. Tony's did the same beside her.

They hovered upwards and both watched as the portal opened. "Army," Tasha said.

"Right," Tony said right back.

Tony kicked his blasters into high gear and shot upward, with Tasha right behind him. They flew upward and began blowing some of the alien horde up. Tasha used her blasters to maximum effect on the Chitauri, with Tony using his small missiles to take out a big batch of them all at once.

They peeled off as they got closer to the portals, just in time for a second wave to sweep in and Nathan to appear on the inside of their visors.

"Stark, Tasha, we're on a three heading north east."

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" Tasha snapped.

"Swing that park, we're gonna lay 'em out for you," Tony said quickly.

Obediently the quinjet swung around and Nathan grabbed onto the controller for the turret gun.

"Nat?" Clint asked suddenly.

"I see 'em," Natasha said, voice tense.

"What is it?" Steve asked quickly.

"It's Thor and Loki," she said.

"Loki...? Drop me off," Stephanie ordered suddenly.

"Why? It's dangerous to be up there right now," Nathan said.

"If Loki is up there then Lori is close behind," Stephanie explained. "I need to talk to her."

"Are you sure?" Claire asked warily, hand tightening on her bow.

"Yes," she said, walking to the back and crouching, pulling her shield off her back and onto her arm. "I'll meet you on the streets."

"Be careful," Steve warned her. "If Lori really has turned just call for backup. If there's radio silence for more than five minutes, I'll come searching for you."

Stephanie nodded and jumped- seconds before Loki hit the quinjet with a blast of energy.

She rolled as she landed safely in the lounge. Lori started from her place on the couch and stood up warily.

"Stephanie? What-" She was cut off as Stephanie ran forwards and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Oh thank God you're ok!" she said in relief. "I was so worried..."

"Stephanie? Aren't you going to try and kill me like Tasha did?" Lori asked warily.

"She did what? Tasha..." she growled into the mike.

"She killed Coulson!" Tasha protested, voice slightly grainy.

"No, I didn't!" Lori snapped. "He's still alive! Just asleep..."

Stephanie flipped her comm off and drew back, staring at her friend. "He's... asleep?"

"I stopped Loki from killing him, but Loki put him to sleep. It preserved the timeline, and I wasn't around to say otherwise," Lori said with a shrug.

Stephanie sighed and smiled at her friend. "I'm just glad you're ok," she said cheerfully, and went to hug Lori once again, only to find she was frozen in place.

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, but you could die in this fight," Lori said softly. "Try to understand- I just want you safe and alive."

"What are you doing? It's getting so cold..." Stephanie asked in confusion.

"Look down," Lori whispered.

Stephanie did so, and stared at her feet, enclosed in ice that was slowly traveling up her legs. "Lori- you don't have to do this..."

"If I do anything less you'll get right back in the fight. Please... this is the only way I can make sure you're safe..." Lori pleaded.

The ice was up to her waist, and Stephanie could feel the cold making her mind sluggish. She pulled her shield around to block her chest and keep it as warm as possible, before the ice froze her arms as well. A last second thought had her reaching for her comm, and she managed to flip it on before the cold reached her neck.

Then her face was getting freezing, and she could hardly move her lips. Before it managed to enclose her face in ice, she whispered out, "Lori... I forgive you..."

(0)^_^(0)

"Look at this!" Thor roared in Loki's face as they battled. "Look around you! Do you think this madness will end with your rule?!"

Lena watched the two grapple silently, keeping her distance and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She was too preoccupied with the battle to turn around and see Stephanie, frozen solid, and Lori sprinting for the stairs.

"It's too late!" Loki hissed in response. "It's too late to stop it." He sounded weary, exhausted. Lena tensed. It was a trap, and Thor didn't know it...

"No. We can- together-" Thor said softly.

Loki looked like he was going to say something, and then-

"LOOK OUT!" Lena screamed and threw a bolt of lightning into the dagger Loki was clutching.

He yelled in pain and dropped it, shoving Thor away from him as he struggled to get feeling back in his hand. He turned to stare at Lena, pure hatred in his eyes, and raised his scepter, powering it up. Lena tried to move, but her feet were frozen. She swallowed and braced for the killing blow.

"NO!" Thor shouted and slammed Mjolnir into the staff, knocking Loki's aim off so he shot a window instead of Lena. She shot him a gratified look and sprinted towards him, coming to a stop at Thor's side.

Loki dropped to the ground and pretended to be hurt. He quite suddenly rolled off the edge and dropped onto a passing Chitauri craft.

"Drat," Lena muttered as she watched him fly away. "He's escaped again."


	10. Chapter 10

Many thanks to all of my faithful reviewers- especially MoreThanMeetsTheEye96. You're a wonderful person and I put the Tasha and Tony scene in just for you! :)

In other news, I don't own the Avengers and Jazzy Pseudonym is an amazing person. Seriously, she is. She's written several of the scenes with Lori and Loki in them, so please check out her profile!

ENJOY!

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Lori clambered the final few feet onto the rooftop and just laid there for a moment, breathing heavily. She was tired from using so much magic to freeze Stephanie. It didn't help that Stephanie had been fighting her, forcing Lori to put much more power than anticipated into the spell.

"Lady Lori!" Dr. Selvig greeted her with a smile. "Come to see Loki's good work?"

"No," she said between pants. "Not at all. Just here... for the view."

It was a spectacular view, she realized. The entire city of New York was spread out before her very eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out again, slowing down her breathing rate.

She could see lots of explosions everywhere, from the Chitauri that Loki had let in. Somewhere down there, the Avengers and her friends were doing their best to keep the Chitauri from winning the battle.

And in that moment, she made her decision.

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Steve sprinted for the car that Nathan, Natasha, Claire, and Clint were hiding behind. "We've got civilans trapped-" Clint started to say, but was halted as another battalion of spacecraft whizzed by.

They all looked up and stared in shock. "Loki..." Steve murmured, staring at the demi-god.

He paused and turned to look over the railing, staring at the people down on the street. "They're fish in a barrel down there," he murmured, turning to Natasha, Nathan, Clint, and Claire.

"We got this," Nathan said smugly. Natasha glared at him silently and hit the back of his head. She turned to look at Steve. "It's good- go," she urged him.

Steve looked at the four carefully. "Think you can hold them off?"

Clint and Claire immediately pulled out arrows and put them to the strings of their bows. "Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure," Clint said with a smirk. He stood up and shot a Chitauri straight in the face with an arrow. It made a death cry and fell as Claire joined him, shooting for exposed joints.

Natasha shot to her feet and began firing at the Chitauri. Nathan was right behind her as Steve nodded and leapt off the bridge onto a bus, sprinting towards the ground.

Nathan pointed towards a crammed bus, and Clint ran towards it, reaching through shattered windows to haul people out. He pointed them towards the nearest subway station as Natasha, Nathan, and Claire gave him covering fire.

He pried open the doors and let the people run out, sprinting back to join the other three. "Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha shouted over the din.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint said dryly.

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The Avengers continued to fight. Steve kept a lookout for Stephanie, but after a few minutes, he asked, "Has anyone seen Stephanie?"

"Uh... not for a while. Why do you ask?"

"She's been really quiet on the radio," he said, voice obviously worried.

"She was last seen at Stark Tower, right? I'll go check," Tasha said, and zoomed off for the building.

They continued to fight, but before long Tasha yelped and cut herself off quickly.

"What is it?" "What's wrong?" "Are you ok?" "Is Stephanie alright?" A chorus of voices echoed suddenly through the comm waves.

"Ah- well, I know why we haven't heard from her..." Tasha said uneasily.

"Why?"

"She's... a mini-Capsicle..."

The comm waves exploded.

"She is WHAT?!" Claire yelled.

"No, she can't be- she's gotta be fine!" Nathan said wildly.

"Who did this? Why did they do this?!" Tony said, anger in his voice.

"We're down a good fighter if we can't get her out," Natasha said, worry evident in her voice.

"I bet I know who did this..." Clint growled.

"Tony, I need you to get me up there to where she is," Steve ordered quickly. "And be prepared to power up your blasters to get her free."

"I'll do it," Tasha volunteered. "Tony needs to save his strength."

"Good. Get me up there," Steve said. She swooped down and picked him up, kicking into overdrive and landing carefully inside the lounge.

Stephanie was suspended inside a large block of ice. She looked surprisingly peaceful, hair floating around her head in a blonde halo, with her hands folded around her shield. Her head was bowed, and they couldn't see her eyes, but her comm was still in her ear.

"Stephanie? If you can hear me, we're going to get you out," Steve said calmly. "You need to be ready."

"Blasters fully powered," Tasha reported.

"Ready? Fire in three... two... one-"

Tasha fired her blasters at the block of ice, which promptly cracked clear down the middle. Steve used his super-soldier strength to pull the halves apart, and Stephanie folded like a rag doll among the rapidly melting ice.

Somewhere above them, Lori's head snapped up as her spell was broken. "Stephanie..." she breathed quietly.

Steve quickly picked Stephanie up out of the water and moved her into a patch of sunlight as she began shaking violently. "I've got her- she's ok," he reported.

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"Miss Stark, I have taken the liberty of providing you with some blankets for Miss Rogers. Her internal temperature is currently at 87.9 degrees Farenheit. I suggest she warm up quickly before she internally freezes to death," the smooth mechanical voice of Jarvis said into all their headsets.

"How is she still alive?" Clint muttered.

"She's part super-soldier," Tasha explained as she brought the blankets over and tucked them around Stephanie. "I can only guess that's the reason she isn't frozen to death."

Stephanie woke up with a start, eyes snapping open. "Wha- what's going on?" she asked, voice terrified.

The general consensus of words was "Thank God."

She laughed shakily as Steve tucked the blanket around her shoulders more securely.

"What happened?" Natasha asked.

"Lori- she wanted me safely out of the fight. She was worried I would get killed. So to keep me safe she froze me..." Stephanie shook even worse as she spoke.

"It's scary, isn't it," Steve murmured, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Feeling the cold start to consume you."

"The worst part is-"

"-knowing there is nothing you can do about it," they chorused.

"I tried to fight it but- DUCK!" Stephanie shouted and pushed Steve to the ground as hard as her cold-weakened arms could.

The Chitauri craft that was pinwheeling through the air missed them by a yard. Tasha exploded it from her hovering position.

Stephanie took a deep breath and stood up, releasing the blanket from her shoulders. "Ok. I'm ready to go," she said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

"Very. Are you ready?" she shot back.

"Of course. Tasha, can you give us a lift?" he asked.

"Sure. One sec... ok, clear," she said after taking down another few spacecraft.

She dropped them off next to Clint, Claire, Natasha, and Nathan. Claire looked left and right, then sprinted over to give Stephanie a hug. She hugged back quickly and looked at Steve. "Where to?"

He nodded and pointed towards the squad cars.

Stephanie grinned and started sprinting down the street, hopping over cars, with Steve right behind her. He overtook her and landed hard on the top of the car, immediately beginning to talk to the policemen.

"You need men in these buildings. There're people inside, they're gonna be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basement or the subway, you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th," Steve ordered, as Stephanie sat down next to him, shield on her lap, feet dangling off the top of the car.

"Why the he** should I take orders from you?" one of the policemen snapped. Stephanie rolled her eyes and shoved herself to her feet, whispering, "Dad, they're coming."

Steve looked over at her with a slight frown at her choice of words, but quickly returned his attention to the threat at hand. A car exploded behind the two Rogers, and everyone jumped a little bit. The Chitauri shot several blasts of... whatever at the two, and Stephanie shielded herself quickly.

Steve used his shield to throw an alien back ten feet and twisted to hurl one using the edge of his shield. Stephanie copied his motions and redirected a blast of energy to hit another Chitauri, who was trying to sneak up on Steve from his blind spot. He nodded to her and returned the favor, shooting one who was trying to catch her back and taking its weapon.

The policeman nodded, turned around, and began walking into the crowd of police officers, calling, "I need men in those building, lead the people down and away from the streets." He grabbed his mike and said clearly, "We're gonna set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th..." His voice trailed off as he got farther away.

Steve turned to look at Stephanie. "'Dad'?" he asked incredulously.

"Do you really want me shouting your name for the world to hear? And anyways, you're more of a dad than my biological dad is," Stephanie said, shrugging and looking down at her feet.

Steve gently patted her shoulder. "Good work. Let's get back to it," he ordered, leaving the issue for another day.

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Tony shot around the corner, Tasha once again on his tail, and didn't even hesitate as he came face to face with a roaring Leviathan. Tasha, on the other hand, 'eeped' a bit, before setting herself with determination.

Tony fired about twenty small missiles at the Leviathan and slowed to allow Tasha to overtake him. She did so as the beast roared in anger and turned to follow the two iron-clad warriors.

"Well, we got his attention," Tony said.

"Now what the heck was Step Two?" Tasha asked.

They both turned and blasted away.


	11. Chapter 11

I'm feeling rather sad. Not one review for the last chapter? Not one? Am I really that terrible a writer? *Shameless guilt trip*

Well, if you liked this, please tell me why, and if you didn't like it, do the same. Flames will be used to... um, I don't know- destroy the Chitauri? Sounds good. ^_^

Please enjoy this chapter!

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Claire yelled, "WARE!" and shot a Chitauri that was sneaking up on Nathan from behind.

He turned and barely nodded. Clint captured her attention once again as he dodged a Chitauri, sweeping its legs out from under it with a powerful yank. He drew an arrow from his rapidly depleting quiver to stab through the monster's chest. He was off again before Claire could congratulate him on a job well done.

Natasha leapt off the top of a cab and onto the back of a Chitauri, using her Widow's Sting to electrocute the alien. It tried its best to buck her off, but Natasha won the battle and it fell to the ground.

Nathan shouted as a Chitauri tackled him around his middle and threw him into the ground. Claire ran forward and stabbed the alien with a normal arrow. He slumped, dead, over Nathan, and together they yanked the Chitauri off of him.

She held out a hand and helped him to his feet. He roughly pulled her close and before she could say anything, he kissed her.

She drew back after a moment and asked, a small smile playing along her lips, "Do I need to ask what that was for?"

"Nope. Just... stay alive, ok?" he ordered her.

"If you do the same," she retorted, and used all of her weight to force him down so she could shoot the Chitauri sneaking up on them.

Clint slid across the ground, underneath the extended arm of the Chitauri about to blast Natasha, and fired a bolt into its back. Natasha returned the favor by killing a monster that was about to shoot Clint. He sprinted back to her side as the younger two did.

They tried to fend off the Chitauri, but there were just too many of them. Right as two bore down on the four, twin inverted shields crashed into the monsters, shoving them back several yards.

Steve joined them quite suddenly, with Stephanie right behind. They joined in the fight, only to halt as lightning struck down many of their foes.

Thor, with Lena right beside him, landed on the street. He released her, and Lena turned to offer him a hand up.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve demanded as they met up, the incoming hordes temporarily halted.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor said roughly.

Evidently Tony picked up on what he had said, because he quickly said, "Thor's right, we gotta deal with these guys!"

"How do we do this?" Nathan asked as Lena ran to Stephanie and hugged her tightly, ignoring the slightly pale tint and shivering limbs she still had from her prolonged captivity.

"As a team," Stephanie said firmly.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor said.

"Yeah?" Clint said, as he unscrewed the tops of some retrieved arrows and gave a few shafts to Claire. She accepted them gratefully as they chorused, "Get in line."

"Save it!" Steve snapped. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without us here these things could run wild."

He turned around to face the seven others. "We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us to..." he trailed off and turned around as an old motorcycle engine rumbled from behind them.

They all watched as Bruce pulled up, with Brenda riding right behind him. He waited until she was off the bike before allowing it to fall over.

"So this all seems... horrible," Bruce remarked as Brenda ran to hug Stephanie. She drew back hurriedly in shock as she touched her friend's arm. "You're ice-cold! What happened?"

"Ah... Long story for a later date. How are you?" Stephanie asked quickly, taking in the stretched-out clothes she wore.

"Well, I've been better," she said wryly. Nathan, Claire, and Lena quickly joined the two girls.

"I've seen worse," Natasha said to Bruce.

"Sorry."

"No, we- we could use a little worse," she said.

"Stark. We got him," Steve said into the comm.

"Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Well, then tell him to suit up," Tasha said grimly. Stephanie relayed the words to Brenda, who leaned close to hear what she was saying.

"I'm bringing the party to you," Tony said.

Instantly the younger set readied themselves.

They all watched as Tony shoved Tasha around the building in front of him, following close behind her. The Leviathan followed with an exceptionally loud roar as it cut partway through a building.

"I-I don't see how that's a party," Natasha muttered.

"Dr. Banner?" Steve said.

Banner was already undoing the buttons on his shirt. "Yes?"

"Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Cap," he said as he began walking forward. "I'm always angry."

Brenda joined him after a brief hug to Stephanie and together they began growing. Stephanie smirked and raised an eyebrow after seeing that Brenda was only a head taller than her. The Hulk, however- the Hulk was about five feet taller than Steve, and as he smashed his fist into the Leviathan's nose, that height was put to good use.

Stephanie grabbed Claire and Nathan, pulling them behind a flipped car as Tony readied his lasers. She stepped back out into the open street and watched fearlessly as Tony shouted, "Hold on!" and fired into the flesh of the flying beast.

They all readied themselves, and at the last moment, Stephanie yanked Lena to her and shielded them both with her shield. The Leviathan exploded spectacularly, and they could all hear the enraged screams of the Chitauri as their monster went up in smoke.

Then the Avengers were circling up, and the Young Avengers followed their lead. Stephanie slipped between Steve and Natasha, readying her shield as the last vestiges of the cold wore off and she was back to peak condition. He glanced down and rested a hand on her shoulder as she smiled up at him for a brief second.

Nathan stood to Natasha's right, next to Thor. He followed her lead and grabbed a fresh clip off his belt to replace his empty one. Lena cracked her knuckles, refraining from summoning Mjolnir, but causing lightning to dance along her hands next to Thor, who was swinging Mjolnir to cause a slight breeze. Claire put an arrow to the string of her bow, in perfect sync with Hawkeye as Brenda growled softly next to the Hulk. Tony and Tasha descended from the sky to complete the circle.

"Guys," Natasha said, drawing their attention.

They turned to the portal, just in time to see two more Leviathans and several battalions of Chitauri come through the portal.

"Steve? Can you give us a battle plan?" Stephanie asked.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close the portal, our priority is containment. Bartons, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything, call out patterns and strays. Starks, you got the perimeter. Anything gets three blocks past, you turn it back or you turn it to ash," Steve ordered.

"Give me a lift?" Clint asked.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas," Tony said. Clint nodded and Tony shot upward, with Tasha and Claire right behind the two.

"Thor, Lena, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. You got the lightning- light the b******s up." Thor nodded, swung his hammer faster, and wrapped an arm around Lena as he took to the sky.

He turned to Natasha and Nathan and said, "You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here." She nodded and Nathan drew his second handgun.

"And Hulk?"

Hulk started and turned to look at him. Brenda was already cracking her neck, readying herself for a fight.

"Smash."

The two grinned and were off onto the buildings, crashing into anything in the way.

Lena kept herself tucked in tight as Thor flew them up to the Empire State Building. He made sure she had a tight grip on the side of the tip of the tower and raised his hammer, causing dark clouds to gather in the sky above. Lena grinned and waited as he electrified the entire building around them, summoning a bit of lightning to pool in her hands. Thor immediately lit the portal up, making it slightly smaller in size- small enough that a Leviathan couldn't fit through it.

Claire landed heavily next to Clint on the roof as Tasha dropped her and sped off. She grumbled under her breath, saying a few uncomplimentary words about Tasha and her parentage. Clint laughed and pointed out an approaching battalion for her to shoot.

"Stark, gotta lot of strays on your tail," Clint said tightly as he shot a few more Chitauri craft out of the sky.

"Just tryin' to keep them off the streets," Tony said tightly, zooming down the street, Tasha just ahead of him.

"Well, they can't bank worth a d***," Clint remarked casually as he shot a spacebike without looking.

"Showoff," Claire muttered.

"Find a tight corner," he continued.

Tony was quiet for a moment, before saying, "I will roger that." He sent a map of the upcoming streets to Tasha, who said quickly "I copy" and banked left hard, Tony right on her tail.

Clint watched a spacebike shoot by and tracked just ahead of it, firing at just the right moment. Claire grinned as the arrow impacted and split the thing in half.

Tasha grinned, though no one could see her, and quite suddenly went from horizontal to vertical in a split second. The small squad that had been following her wasn't prepared for the change in direction and slammed directly into a solid brick wall. She flew over the building and met Tony on the other side, after his brief joint through a very small tunnel.

"Nice call," Tony said. "What else ya got?"

"Thor and Lena're taking on a squadron down on 6th," Claire said quickly.

"And they didn't invite us?" Tasha said incredulously.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello again! I probably wasn't gonna be able to post for a bit, but then stuff happened and I was able to! Busy week ahead of me, so try not to expect another post until at least Wednesday night, quite possibly later...

Please enjoy and thanks to all of my lovely reviewers!

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Brenda directed her Hulk to follow the real Hulk across the buildings. They could both sense the Leviathan approaching and before Brenda could admonish her to try not to break much, Mini-Hulk went barreling through a building right behind Big Hulk and straight onto the Leviathan.

She internally bit her lip and directed Mini-Hulk to climb up onto the Leviathan's back, which Mini-Hulk proceeded to do rapidly, tearing out chunks of armor in the process.

"Be careful," Brenda warned Mini-Hulk. "You aren't entirely death-proof."

Mini-Hulk just snarled in return and continued beating the tar out of the Leviathan.

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Nathan yanked a Chitauri's attention to himself and fired several bullets into the alien. It fell with a strangled growl and he turned to watch Natasha almost fire at Steve. Stephanie was only a few steps behind him.

"Captain, this isn't gonna mean a d*** thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha said in exhaustion. All four turned to stare at the open portal. Chitauri were still pouring through it at an alarming rate.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," he protested.

"Well... maybe it's not about guns."

They all glanced at her, but their attention was swiftly drawn by the battalion of Chitauri about to descend upon them.

"If you wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride," Stephanie remarked.

Natasha threw the Chitauri weapon to the side. "I got a ride," she said dryly and walked a bit away from Steve. "I could use a boost though."

"You sure about this?" Steve asked as he, too backed up and readied his shield. Nathan gestured for Stephanie to join her original. She shot him a warning glance, evidently saying, 'You're too heavy and I'm not strong enough.' He just shrugged it off and planted himself, ready to take off running and jump onto her shield.

"Yeah," Natasha said. She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself of something. "It's gonna be... fun."

Nathan snorted and nodded to Stephanie. She set herself and he raced forward, perfectly in step with Natasha as they both launched themselves off destroyed cars and onto the shields.

Stephanie grunted and used all of her force to propell him into the air. It wasn't going to be enough, and Nathan knew he was about to fall back down to earth. He braced himself, only to bounce off of her shield again- this time with the added force of the original supersoldier- and make it. He twisted and grabbed onto the same spacecraft as Natasha, boosting her up to the platform. She quickly hauled him up as well and cut the cable keeping the Chitauri gunner from falling to his death and kicked him off, 300-style.

Nathan pointed for her to get into the driver's seat, and Natasha rapidly launched herself onto the Chitauri's back. It gave a loud death wail as she stuck two small daggers into the unprotected flesh on the monster's back. She twisted the dying alien harshly, murmuring "Turn... turn... twist-!"

They glanced off a building and shot towards Stark Tower- well, now just "Sta" Tower.

Tony and Tasha shot by them, blasting several lasers into the small pack on Natasha and Nathan's tail. They quickly picked up a few followers and followed Clint's tip of finding a quick turn to shake them off. The two skidded to a halt next to Steve and Stephanie, just in time for Steve to punch one alien's chest and Stephanie to roundhouse kick another. The two Starks directed lasers off the shields and took out several, before taking off again.

They zipped past Clint and Claire, who were still firing arrows into the melee in the sky. Clint dodged a stray shot from a Chitauri gun and Claire returned fire quickly, as Clint returned the favor.

A Leviathan passed, with Mini-Hulk and Hulk on its back. Hulk ripped some of the Chitauri warriors out of their pods and threw them away from him, angrily roaring as one leapt onto his back. Mini-Hulk took care of it for him, throwing the alien into a nearby building. She ripped a piece of armor off as Hulk did and threw it into two approaching Chitauri warriors. They both fell out of sight as Lena and Thor landed hard on the back of the Leviathan.

Thor slammed Mjolnir into several warriors as Lena used her lightning to kill some of the other monsters. Hulk ripped up a large piece of armor and jammed it straight into the back of the flying warship, which Thor followed up with a lit up hammer slam, driving the armor deep into the Leviathan.

It roared in pain and slid- right into the fancy building in front of Stark Tower. The four slowly stepped off, walking into the mostly abandoned building. They stood there silently for a moment, before Hulk's fist shot out and threw Thor into the other wall.

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Lori whirled as Dr. Selvig suddenly stirred. He began sitting up, staring at the portal in the sky with unconcealed horror in his eyes.

"Dr. Selvig?" she asked warily.

He stared at her, shoving himself fully upright. "You..." he whispered. "You're the girl."

"The one that looks like Loki, the doppelgänger, yes," she said. "I'm not like him. I promise."

He still seemed wary and said, "I'm not sure I trust you."

Lori sighed and nodded. Her eyes drifted to a gash on his forehead and she asked cautiously, "I can... heal that for you. If you'd like."

"What? Oh... no, I'm fine," he said.

Lori's shoulders sagged. She nodded and said, "I'll be downstairs. If the Chitauri decide to heckle you, just call."

She knew he wouldn't take her up on her offer.

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Steve forced the Chitauri weapon away from his face and followed it up with a punch to the arms. It fell back, and Stephanie raced to give him a hand up.

"Are you ok?" he asked carefully, taking in her dusty appearance, soot-covered face, and tangled blonde braid. More hair was out than was in at that point.

Stephanie nodded and quickly ripped her braid out, retying it into a ponytail. "I'm alright. You?"

He nodded as Clint said, "Cap, mini-Cap, the bank on 42nd past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there."

"We're on it," Steve said, breathing heavily. Stephanie was right there next to him as he began the trek there.

Sure enough, when they arrived, there were three Chitauri, with weapons, holding a whole bunch of people captive in the main lobby. One stepped away and was doing something with a small device when Steve- who had insisted on being the gentleman- dove through the window and threw his shield, giving Stephanie time to get through the window.

He rolled out of the way as Stephanie pressed her back to a pillar and glanced around the corner. She yanked her head out of the way as a blast shot past her.

Steve used all of his leg power to shove a table towards the two Chitauri firing at them. He leapt over the table as Stephanie sprinted towards the other Chitauri and grappled with him.

Steve twisted his body around and threw the Chitauri over the railing, into the crowd of people. They hastily split for the dead body to land solidly on the floor.

The other Chitauri grabbed Steve from behind and slowly began prying off his mask. Stephanie's own Chitauri got free and threw her straight through a column. It then grabbed its weapon off its back and started shooting at Steve.

He kicked his feet up and flipped over the Chitauri's shoulder, using the alien as a shield. Several blasts impacted before Steve dropped the monster.

Stephanie sat up slowly, coughing and holding her side. Her eyes widened along with Steve's as the final Chitauri dropped its gun and scrambled to grab a small boxy object that was rapidly ticking on the ground.

Steve threw Stephanie her shield as she ran to his side. Together they sprinted for the window and readied themselves for what was coming. The Chitauri grabbed the bomb and threw it at them as they both tucked in tight and jumped.

The explosion was massive; both of them were blasted out through the window and into the street. Steve landed hard on a car as Stephanie, with her lesser weight, was carried farther and smashed into a pile of rubble.

They both just laid there for a moment, trying to catch their breath, before Stephanie slowly pushed herself to her feet. Steve climbed off the car and limped over to where Stephanie was dusting herself off.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Stephanie sighed. "I... I hope so. I don't feel any massive internal injuries at least." She looked up at him and started slightly, before reaching up and pulling her own mask off. She threw it to the side and smiled at him shakily. "Now we match."

He sighed a bit and tousled her blonde hair. "Yes, we do match," he said tiredly.

"Where to now?" Stephanie asked, and Steve smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey again! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been very busy.

No reviews?! Not even one for this latest chapter?! *sniff sniff* That's made me very sad... I've had a bad week and not even one person reviewed Chapter 12. *wipes tear away*

Kay, that's enough of me feeling sorry for myself. Enjoy the chapter- this story is about to hit a climax...

Enjoy!

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Nathan held on tightly to the two handles of the spacecraft. He spared a glance at Natasha, who was still driving. She looked over her shoulder briefly and said, with a very dry and annoyed tone, "Oh. You."

Nathan turned around again and started. Loki was flying along right behind them, shooting- very poorly- at their own craft. "What should we do, Nat?" he shouted.

"First, only Clint is allowed to call me Nat. Second- Hawkeye?"

Claire looked over at the street and grinned. Clint turned to see what she was looking at and asked incredulously, "Nat- what are you doing?!"

"Uh- a little help!" she shouted through the comm, dodging a few more Chitauri spacecraft and Loki's wide shots.

Clint and Claire both raised their bows and pointed them at the spacecraft, zooming all up and down the street. "I got him," Clint muttered, a slow smile spreading across his face.

Claire left him to it and fired a few shots at other spacecraft. She did watch as he fired and the arrow sped through the air- dead on- only for Loki to close his hand around it, seconds from hitting his face. Clint growled angrily and hit the remote detonation button on his bow.

The craft exploded, hurling Loki through the air. Claire watched as the falling thing took out the S and T of the remaining 'Sta' on Tony's tower. She followed Nathan and Natasha as they both flipped off the spacecraft and onto the roof, before going back to her work.

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Hulk and Mini-Hulk landed heavily on the open air balcony. Hulk threw Loki through the glass and into the wall, creating a small crater. He fell to the ground and stood up.

Hulk roared and ran forward, about to smash him into the ground when Loki shouted, "ENOUGH!"

Mini-Hulk raised an eyebrow, and Brenda with her large, green counterpart.

"You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a GOD, you dull creature. And I will not be bullied by-"

He cut off because Hulk had had enough BS and decided to put an end to Loki's complaints. He grabbed Loki by the foot and smashed him into the ground three times, paused for a brief second, and then twice again slammed him heavily into the floor.

Mini-Hulk laughed- a delicate sound from such a large, bulky creature. Hulk looked at her and a small smile broke across his face. Brenda knew in that moment that Bruce had taken over, and she smiled back through Mini-Hulk.

Together, the two walked away from the smashed demi-god, with Hulk only glancing back once to utter Brenda's favorite words:

"Puny god."

(0)^_^(0)

Lori made sure the two Hulks were gone before she snuck out to Loki's side. She had been hiding in the place Tony had kept the Mach VII, safely out of sight from the two beings.

"Loki?" she whispered tentatively.

All she could hear was the high pitched, stunned whine.

"Loki," she said again. "Are you ok?"

He was silent for a moment, before he said, with a slightly pained expression, "What do you think?"

Lori sat down next to him and placed her hand over his. She slowly began pushing her own power into him, healing the major breaks as best she could. A rib or two was broken, one dangerously close to a lung, and she wasted no time in knitting the bone back together. He had a broken arm, which was nothing for her.

"Why... are you doing... this?" he asked her, face slightly more relaxed.

"I don't want you bleeding out before you can be brought to justice," she said heavily.

"So you, too, think I will lose?"

Lori finished healing him and sat back with a sigh on her heels. "Yes," she said finally. "I do believe that you will lose."

"Why?" Loki asked.

Lori looked at him. She could sense nothing but genuine curiousity, and finally said, "Because humanity is too stubborn to die."

"Too... stubborn? Is that really the only reason?" Loki asked in sheer disbelief.

"Well, that and you picked the worse place to stick the portal- EVER. I mean, seriously? New York? If there is one thing Americans like more than their freedom, I would really like to know it. Because we LOVE our freedom. People die- every day- to defend that right."

"It was a... convienient location, shall we say."

Lori snorted, very unladylike. "Yeah, well, you still could've gone north and had only a slightly better chance of success. Because it isn't just us Americans that love our freedom. Everyone in the world loves freedom. And even if you had succeeded, it would only have been a matter of time before there was an uprising somewhere, and you were thrown off your throne."

"What could I have done differently?" Loki asked as Lori stood up.

Lori paused, before she finally said, "Don't mess with Earth."

(0)^_^(0)

Natasha stood up and walked right by Nathan, who had rolled into a wall. "Grow up," she snapped as she passed, on her way to Eric Selvig, who was lying at the edge of the tower.

"The scepter..." he said softly.

"Doctor-"

"Loki's scepter. The energy. The Tesseract can't fight. You can't... protect against yourself."

Natasha knelt next to him as Nathan quietly said, "It's not your fault- you didn't know what you were doing."

Selvig was quiet for a moment, before saying, "Well... actually, I think I did."

Both red-head's eyes widened.

"I... built in a safety. To cut the power source," he explained.

Natasha was quiet for a moment, before realization struck her. "Loki's scepter..."

Eric nodded. "It may be able to close the portal." He paused, and turned his head to the side. "And I'm looking right at it."

(0)^_^(0)

Thor used Mjolnir to throw several Chitauri off a spacecraft as Lena blasted a few off a passing craft. The thing went out of control and whirled through the air, only to collide with a Leviathan that had cut through a building.

Tasha shot up the other side of the Leviathan, shooting lasers at the plate armor. She could tell Tony was doing the same as Jarvis said, "Sir, we will lose power before we penetrate that shell."

Tony gestured for Tasha to stay put at her place by the monster's side and flew down the length of another block. He swung around to face the monster and said, "Jarvis? You ever hear the tale of Jonah?"

"I... would not consider him a role model," the AI said crisply.

But it was too late- Tony readied some of his mini-missiles and shot into the open mouth of the Leviathan. Tasha watched, nose wrinkling in disgust, as the Leviathan shuddered and finally exploded.

Tony cartweeled down the street, coming to a halt in front of a Shawarma joint. He fought to stand up, but a small squadron of Chitauri warriors were coming down the street. He swore, and shoved himself to his feet as a few bullets knocked him off balance.

Tasha flew down and blasted a few away, hauling him to his feet, until a few blasts hit her back and she went facedown as well.

(0)^_^(0)

Claire watched in worry as Clint started running out of arrows. She herself was nearly out, and Clint drew his last bolt and fired into a Chitauri that was climbing the wall, reaching back to grab another one and stopping abruptly as air met his fingertips.

"Here!" Claire shouted and shoved the remaining five bolts of her quiver into his own. He nodded his thanks, took out the Chitauri, and made her wrap her arms around his neck, allowing both hands to stay free.

"Hold on tight," he ordered and before she could shout in fear, they jumped off the building.

She hugged his neck tightly as he drew his bow back and fired the final arrow into the wall. It was a grappling hook, and it worked- Claire had to hold in a shout of pain as her arms were wrenched around in their sockets and Clint let out a choked sound as she tightened her grip. They swung through the window and Clint rolled to make sure she didn't land in the broken glass.

Claire quickly rolled off him and reached out both hands to pull him to his feet. Clint sat up and sighed quietly, shaking his head in response to her offer and digging glass shards out of his hands and arms.

Claire dropped to her knees next to him and reached out a hesitant hand to help him, before abruptly drawing her hand away. "Now what?" she asked softly.


	14. Chapter 14

Here's the next (rather short) chapter! Thanks for the reviews and enjoy- the battle is almost over. Next chapter should be the end of the battle, and there's only about 5 more chapters after that.

(0)^_^(0)

Hulk smashed two Chitauri into the roof and kicked several more away. Mini-Hulk was right behind him, following his actions to a T.

Brenda tensed as a blast of energy hit her shoulder. She turned, along with Hulk, to stare as a full battalion opened fire on them.

Hulk threw his arms out, shielding Mini-Hulk as the world exploded in flames. Brenda whimpered, which only seemed to enrage Hulk more, as he roared defiantly and threw a Chitauri corpse at his comrades.

(0)^_^(0)

Tasha slowly shoved herself to her feet, wincing in pain. She held out a hand to Tony, who took it and pulled himself up as well, killing several more Chitauri as they tried to kill the two Starks.

"Stark, you hear me?" Nick Fury said quite suddenly. Tasha started and missed her shot, cursing as it exploded a car.

The next words sent a shiver down their backs.

"You have a missile- headed straight for the city!"

Tony groaned and said, "How long?!" A Chitauri brought him to his knees as the butt of their gun crashed into his helmet.

"Three minutes! Max! With a payload to wipe out midtown!"

"Jarvis, put everything we've got into the thrusters!" Tony ordered, sounding exhausted.

"I just did," Jarvis reported.

Tasha kicked off the ground and shook off several Chitauri that were trying to catch onto her suit. Tony did the same and together they blasted into the air.

(0)^_^(0)

Thor grabbed his hammer out of the air as Lena summoned more lightning to her fists. Steve caught his shield and Stephanie sprinted forward and blocked a sneaky Chitauri who thought it could get the jump on Steve.

Thor knocked a spear out of the way and used Mjolnir to throw the Chitauri away. Lena swept in and killed some of the others quickly.

Steve and Stephanie were fighting side by side, matching each other as best they could. Steve let his guard down for a split second and was shot in the side. He cried out in pain and fell like his feet were swept out from under him.

"DAD!" Stephanie shouted, realizing too late that everyone could hear her as she fell to her knees next to Steve. "Are you ok?!"

"'Dad'? Who called who 'dad'?" Tasha asked suspiciously.

"Stephanie," Lena said. "Steve got shot."

"Blackmail!"

"No, it isn't. Dad, talk to me," she said, helping him sit up, fear clouding her blue eyes.

"I'm alright, Stephanie," Steve said wearily. He clutched his side and hissed. "For the most part."

Thor came over and extended a hand. Stephanie shoved herself to her feet as Steve took the hand and pulled himself to his feet. The Asgardian barely moved, testament to his other-worldly strength.

"You ready for another bout?" Thor asked.

Steve was quiet for a moment, before saying, "What, you getting sleepy?"

Mjolnir returned to Thor as Stephanie wrapped an arm around her foster-father's waist. Lena grinned at her friend and examined her hands, sparking with power.

"I can close it!"

Stephanie felt her heart rate spike.

"Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!"

It was Natasha. She could hear Nathan in the background, helping Dr. Selvig to his feet.

"Do it!" Steve shouted, hand flying to his ear.

"No, wait!" Tasha yelled frantically. "Hold off!"

"Stark, these things are still coming," Steve said tensely.

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute."

Dead silence fell over the comm waves. Stephanie looked around her, noting Steve and Thor's shocked and slightly fearful faces, and at Lena's determined one.

"And I know just where to put it."

There were a few tense sentences exchanged. Tasha sped overhead, as Tony shot by, with the missile pressed tightly to the back of his suit.

"Tasha Stark. You will NOT go into that portal, do you understand me?" she said suddenly. "Not under any circumstances."

"Steph, I can't just sit by while Tony goes in," Tasha said tersely.

"If you go in, you make sure you come out. You and your crazy original. Understood?"

"I am not crazy!" Tony protested, but they ignored him.

"Understood."

"God bless you both," she whispered, as Tasha used all of her thrusters to help kick the missile into an upright position.

(0)^_^(0)

Tony shot upwards, focusing on getting the missile through the portal. "Right a bit," he said quickly, and Tasha used her thrusters to center them.

"Sir, shall I try Miss Potts?" Jarvis' mechanical voice asked.

He paused, swallowed. "You can try."

Then they were at the blue-tinged hole and shooting through it. Tasha immediately felt the weight of the gravity-less space press into her. She gasped slightly and loosened her grip.

"Let go!" Tony shouted, and together they released the missile.

It flew steady and true on its path to the Chitauri mothership, as they watched fearfully. There was silence in space, but they could feel the "whumph" run through them as it hit- and exploded.

(0)^_^(0)

Those still on the ground stared up at the portal. Unlike the rest of the world, they didn't stand up and cheer. They were silent.

"Close it," Steve said heavily.

Natasha complied, and Nathan hurried forward to help her push the scepter into the cube. He sighed heavily as the blue stream vanished and the portal began closing.

"Come on, Tash, Stark," Claire whispered.

(0)^_^(0)

The two Starks sighed in relief as the mothership exploded. Tony tilted his head to Tasha, who was finding it hard to breathe, and reached out a metal arm. He pulled her to his chest and wrapped both arms tightly around her, for some reason he couldn't explain.

Tasha's eyes flickered closed, and her suit lights turned off suddenly. Tony sighed heavily and stared over her head at the flickering stars, as his suit lights turned off. The last things he saw were the stars, and Pepper's face.

(0)^_^(0)


	15. Chapter 15

Today, ladies and gents, I wasn't going to post anything.

I almost broke a bone in my left hand, so I was feeling terrible to begin with.

Then I got on Facebook, and suddenly, my pain was insignificant.

My heart goes out to all those affected by the Newtown, Connecticut shooting. I can't even begin to fathom the pain those families are going through.

And even though I can't do much, I'm dedicating this chapter to the 26 victims of the shooting.

God bless you, Newtown. Rest in peace.

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie stared upwards at the portal in fear, fingers crossed as she worried her lip nervously, to the point of bleeding. The portal was closing, and they weren't showing up.

"There they are!" Lena yelled, and her heart dropped in relief.

One large blob was plummeting towards earth at an alarming rate. "They're not slowing down!" Steve yelled, and Thor immediately began swinging his hammer, readying himself to fly after them.

Out of nowhere, a large green being snatched them out of the sky, quickly followed by a smaller version. "Bring them down, Bren!" Stephanie murmured, and began sprinting towards the place they were going to land.

She fell to her knees and skidded to a halt beside Tasha, who Brenda had pried out of Tony's grasp. She tried to pull the mask off her face, but failed, and was about to ask for Steve's help when he provided it. He reached over, grasped the mask, and ripped it right off her face.

Brenda began shrinking down to normal size, and ran to the Hulk, wrapping her arms around his lower arm. She was tiny in comparison; barely half his size. And yet, the Hulk was extraordinarily gentle when he lifted her onto his shoulder for her to sit comfortably.

Stephanie quickly dropped her head to feel for any breath on her cheek. No air tickled her small strands of blonde hair, falling in front of her face. She sat back with a sad sigh, and wiped a tear out of her eye.

Steve reached over and pressed a hand to her shoulder. She covered his hand with her own and squeezed gently, before releasing.

Hulk was evidently not pleased with this outcome, because he carefully covered Brenda's head with one hand and ROARED.

Stephanie ducked her head forward and covered her ears, praying they would wake up.

"Ah!" Tony yelled, eyes snapping open. Tasha bolted upright and almost immediately fell back onto her back.

Stephanie reached out and caught her head quickly. "Oh thank God," she whispered, with so much feeling in her voice it was almost scary.

"What the he**! What just happened?" Tony asked breathlessly. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Steve laughed a little bit and sat back. "We won," he said, with an almost disbelieving tone in his voice.

"Alright, hey!" Tony said, feebly raising his arms in some kind of celebration. "Alright, good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just... take a day."

"Have you ever had shawarma?" Tasha asked wearily, raising a metal covered hand to her forehead and rubbing it tiredly. "I don't know what it is but I want to try it."

Steve laughed a little bit and looked up at the tower. "We aren't finished yet," he said grimly.

Stephanie pushed herself to her feet and held out both hands to Steve with a grin. He grabbed on and stood up quickly, pulling her into a brief hug. She smiled into his bloody, ripped, and sooty uniform. There was something deep inside her, filling her with happiness.

It felt like home.

(0)^_^(0)

Lori helped Loki sit up slowly, knowing her exhaustion showed in her eyes. She hadn't slept in almost 27 hours, and the lack of sleep was taking its toll on her.

Loki twisted to face the window and suddenly yanked Lori to him quickly, shielding her with one arm with the other blocking her head. She peeked through his fingers and saw the reason for the sudden protectiveness.

The Avengers were arrayed before them. Hawkeye had his arrow pointed directly at Loki's forehead, with a no-nonsense expression on his face. Claire knelt next to him, a second arrow twined between her fingers as she stared coolly at him.

Thor was standing right next to Lena, with one arm draped over her shoulder, while he sadly looked at his former brother. To his left, Nathan had his arms crossed while Natasha was holding the scepter calmly.

Steve had his shield on his arm, with Stephanie holding her own shield by the leather straps. Tasha's arms were crossed over her chest, with Tony standing beside her. Weariness was clear on both of their faces. Actually everyone looked tired- except for Hulk and Brenda.

"If it's all the same to you," Loki said tiredly, "I'll have that drink now."

(0)^_^(0)

It was finally over.

After a fast-paced few days, the Avengers had won the battle for New York.

Stephanie was lost.

For the past few days, her emotions had been a roller coaster- exhilaration over being in the Avenger's universe, fear over the impending events, so many other feelings.

But now it was over, and she didn't know what to do.

They were in the lounge, talking softly. Everyone looked slightly sad as Lori and Lena packed their bags.

After a long conference that the other Young Avengers weren't privy to, Lori and Lena had announced that they would be going to Asgard with their originals. Everyone tried to be happy for them, but everyone could tell that they were rather upset that they would be separated.

Stephanie wandered over to where they were standing, hands stuffed into the pockets of her blue jacket. "Take care, you hear?" she said quietly to the two Asgardians. "Be safe."

"I haven't died yet, have I?" Lori asked dryly, hefting a small knapsack onto her back. "I'm sure I won't die now."

Stephanie frowned. "Don't be so sure. We don't know what happens from here on out."

Lori sighed heavily and said, "I'm sure I'll see you again. Thought it could be in twenty years."

Stephanie laughed softly and hugged her friend tightly. "I'll miss you," she murmured into Lori's shoulder.

Lori smiled into her shoulder and gently patted her back, drawing back as the door opened behind them.

Stephanie turned around and shouted, "COULSON!"

Agent Phil Coulson was standing in the doorway, hands folded professionally in front of him. "Director Fury sent me to gather you together," he said formally, and then his stern face softened a bit. "Well done, all of you."

Claire dropped her glass to the ground and rocketed to her feet. "Coulson?!" she asked in shock. "But- you died!"

"I was actually in a magically-induced coma," he said firmly, stepping a bit into the room, allowing the door to close behind him.

Stephanie smiled at him and said, "I'm glad to see you're alright." She stood up and closed the distance between them, extending a hand to the agent. He took it and shook firmly.

Stephanie started a wave of good-tidings to the slightly astonished agent. Lena almost hugged the poor man before Lori dragged her away from him.

Stephanie slipped past the greeting committee and walked down the corridor, rubbing her eyes wearily. She hadn't been able to sleep at all the last night- more than a little pain had kept her awake.

She rubbed her shoulder and winced in pain, checking to make sure the blood hadn't leaked through her makeshift bandage. A gentle prod made her hiss softly. There was a small stain of dark crimson on her arm. She sighed and made her way to her room.

She was outside her room when the dizziness hit. Stephanie placed her hand against the wall and waited for the stars to pass.

They finally did and she started to punch her room code in, only to find that she didn't remember it. She frowned. It was a very simple code- she had never had problems with memorization before...

She sighed briefly and randomly punched in four numbers. The lock beeped at her and she sighed again. A quick check of her bandage showed a much larger bloodstain.

Alright, that was it- she was going to go ask for help.

An agent pointed her to the infirmary. She had to stop more and more frequently on her way there, as the stars returned again and again.

Finally, she was outside the door. She paused to let the dizziness pass one last time and stepped inside.

The room was quiet, and she sighed in defeat. Stephanie walked to a nearby cabinet and opened it, searching for any bandages.

"What are you doing?"

The lights flipped on and Stephanie jumped, turning to look at Bruce. The sudden movement yanked her shoulder and her eyes watered as she quickly put a hand to it. His eyes narrowed, and he walked forward, looking at her bandage.

"What did you do?" he asked suspiciously.

"I think an alien's gun blast clipped me," she explained as he slowly unwrapped the bandage.

"Really?" he said dryly. "Because it looks like someone stuck a sword in your shoulder." He pointed her to a seat and she obediently sat down.

Stephanie craned her head around to her shoulder and gasped. "I-" her head spun again and she paused for a moment, before continuing. "I didn't think it was that bad..."

"Are you ok? Dizzy, nausea, confusion...?" he asked.

"Couldn't remember my door combination," she said dryly. "And I had to stop a lot 'cause I was seeing stars."

"No nausea?"

"Only when I was trying to bandage myself up."

"I'm surprised this slipped past the medics."

"I kinda kept telling anyone that tried to check me out that someone else had made sure I was ok- OW!" she yelped.

"This is going to need stitches. You're lucky this isn't infected."

Stephanie smiled dryly. "I thought it would've healed, what with the super soldier serum in my blood."

"I may do a blood test, to see how much serum is in your blood," Bruce said, as he threaded a needle with some surgical thread.

"Go for it," Stephanie said- both to the needle and to the blood test. "I don't know what you'll find..." She whimpered softly as Bruce started sewing and bit onto her sleeve.

"So you've been hiding this..."

"Four days-" Stephanie said tightly, fingers digging into the chair as the needle swept in and out of her flesh, closing the gash. "I thought I could handle it."

Bruce paused and stepped around to look her in the eye. "Four... days. You've been hiding something as serious as this for four days."

Stephanie nodded.

"Has it stopped bleeding at all?"

"It paused a few times in the night. But no, it hasn't."

Bruce sighed heavily. "I may need to get Steve in here. If it's been bleeding this badly for four days, you could need a blood transfusion. Blood type is..." He paused and examined a small hand-held machine. "A negative. Good, you and Steve are a blood match."

Stephanie sighed and winced as he finished sewing up the gash. "Is it really that-" She stopped again as a wave of dizziness swept over her. "Ok, yeah, it's that bad."

He looked over at her worriedly as he called Steve. He sighed after a few moments and hit the stop button, calling Tony instead.

"Tony? ... Yeah, no, I'm not in the lab. Listen... Yes, I know I just deserted you. Listen- Tony, SHUT UP for a moment!"

Stephanie bit back a laugh.

"I need you to get Steve. He's not answering his phone... No, it doesn't concern you. Just get him for me? ... And contact Brenda while you're at it. ... Where do they need to go? Infirmary. Why? You don't need to know why. Just get them here... thanks."

He hung up and exchanged an exasperated sigh with Stephanie. She was feeling very light-headed now, and leaned forward carefully to put her head between her knees.

The door opened and Steve and Brenda walked inside. Stephanie straightened up and paled considerably, as her hand flew to her forehead.

Steve immediately made his way to her side and worriedly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"She is not alright. She has had an enormous gash in her shoulder for the past four days that hasn't stopped bleeding!" Bruce snapped. "And because she's lost so much blood she needs a transfusion."

"What do I need to do?" he asked immediately.

Stephanie smiled tiredly and placed her hand over his. When he looked at her, she whispered, "Thank you," and rested her head on his shoulder wearily.

She vaguely heard the instructions given by Bruce, but was growing tired and only felt Brenda gently slapping her good shoulder. "Hey. Stay awake, ok? You can sleep after this."

Stephanie tiredly nodded at her and tuned out for the next few minutes, hardly flinching when Bruce poked her arm with the needle.

Almost immediately she felt more awake. Stephanie straightened as the serum-infused blood entered her bloodstream and her eyes widened. "Oooookay, we didn't compensate for the serum," she muttered, wincing a little as her shoulder stung.

"I would cut the bloodflow, but that might be dangerous," Bruce said worriedly. "Can you tough it out for a few more seconds?"

"I can try," Stephanie said, clenching her fist on the table. "But I might have to get the stitches removed."

"Why?" Brenda asked, already moving forward to check.

"Have a look," Stephanie said, indicating her shoulder with her free hand. "Tell me what it looks like."

Brenda carefully peeled back the bandage and gasped. "It's gone!" she exclaimed, clearly startled. "It's all cleared up!"

"Let me see," Bruce ordered, moving to examine her shoulder. "It is all gone. The serum must've done it. I'm turning off the blood flow now."

Steve gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Don't do that again," he ordered her softly. Stephanie nodded into his shirt silently as Bruce pulled the needles out of the two super soldiers. Both healed instantly, and it only took Bruce a moment to cut the thread binding her skin together.

Stephanie stretched happily, carefully rotating the shoulder as Bruce dumped the needles into a small receptacle. He closed the lid and hit a button, which incinerated both needles instantly. She hopped off the bed thing and asked, "Are we going to the park now?"

Too late she realized that they hadn't been told they were going to Central Park. Both men shot her confused looks as she blushed slightly and bit her lip. "Not yet," Steve said finally. "Stark told me to bring you two to one of the conference rooms when we were done here. Something about a tape."

Brenda and Stephanie glanced at each other, brows furrowed. "Ok," Brenda finally said and led the way out.


	16. Chapter 16

So the battle wrapped up last chapter. Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! You are all so fantastic! (Props to the person who recognizes this reference!)

Hope you enjoy this chapter- there's still like 5 more before it's all done. And then... maybe, just maybe... there'll be a sequel. Good, hm?

Please enjoy and please review!

(0)^_^(0)

They all met in the conference room, quietly talking. Stephanie still had the serum in her system and felt a bit hyper, meaning that she was all over the place, talking with everyone at least once.

"Settle down!" Tony finally shouted, closing the door and locking it quickly. "I found this earlier and thought we should take a look at it- it might provide us with some answers."

They took seats and the younger set looked around at each other nervously. "Um..." Tasha said nervously. "What is 'this', precisely?"

"'This' is this," Tony said, and hit a large red play button.

With a growing horror on her face, Stephanie listened and realized what the tape was.

"Calm down, Lori, this is serious," Nathan's voice echoed through the room.

Their meeting.

They listened through the whole tape. Stephanie put her head in her hands as they listened. Claire looked rather interested and Nathan looked horrified. Lori was staring silently at the table, face blank, as Lena chewed on her lip. Brenda was shaking nervously, wringing her hands. Tasha didn't look at anyone, and rather looked bored.

"Remember your positions. Get going!" Nathan's static-filled voice said, and they watched as the younger selves filed out of the room.

Tony stopped the tape and turned to look at the young Avengers. "Well," he said finally, "You have some explaining to do."

Nathan sighed and rubbed his forehead. He looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped and shut his mouth silently.

"I..." Brenda began to say, but drew back, terrified, as several pairs of accusing eyes burrowed into her own.

Claire sighed as the silence became unbearable. "We... aren't from around here," she said finally.

Lena snorted, very unladylike. "You can say that again," she muttered.

"Aren't from around here, how?" Steve asked in confusion. "As in a different time?"

Stephanie lifted her head out of her hands and smiled wanly. "No. Farther removed than that, even."

"Just how far, then?" Natasha asked, voice cold.

"Preeeeeeettttttty far," Lori said, dragging the word out. "Even more than you think."

"Ok, enough with beating around the bush," Brenda said finally in resignation. "We aren't from this universe."

"I coulda told you that," Tony said dryly. He pulled something up on a screen and shoved it over to each of them.

"No facial recognitions- not one. That is not natural. I would have at least expected a birth certificate, a driver's license, a Facebook, something. Even a single picture! But nooooo, you just turn up out of the blue one fine evening." He sat back in his chair with a huff.

"How did you know about-"

"The lines?" Tasha asked. "Oh, that's simple!" She turned to stare at Stephanie, who glared at her and finally sighed.

"Ever heard of a movie?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

"Welllllllll... they kinda... made a movie. Two hours and twenty five minutes long."

Dead silence filled the room.

"Don't believe us?" Lori asked suddenly. "Cause I can see it in your eyes."

"Oooh! I know!" Brenda chirped. "Give us a starter line- any line."

"Ok..." Bruce said hesitantly.

"You know, for a man who's trying to avoid stress, you-"

"Picked a he** of a place to settle," Nathan picked up, looking over at Brenda.

"It's not about avoiding stress," she countered easily, a spark in her eyes.

"Then what is it? Yoga?" Nathan asked.

"You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart. I assume the whole place is surrounded?"

"Just you and me."

"And your actress buddy, she a spy too? They start that young?"

"I did," Nathan finished, and grinned. "That was far too easy."

"That was awesome, was what it was."

Natasha's eyebrows had risen, and she said, "It was-"

"-quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. Thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" Stephanie answered easily, eyes sparkling.

"They're vintage, he's very proud."

"Dr. Banner!" she continued, sweeping right into the next bit of dialogue.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming," Brenda said cheerfully.

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about."

"Must be strange for you, all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Stephanie finished, and looked over at Steve. His eyes had widened in shock over their perfect dialogue.

"Another-"

"This drink, I like it."

Tasha swept into the part of Darcy easily. "I know, right? It's great-"

"ANOTHER!" Lena shouted, and mimed throwing a coffee mug to the ground.

Stephanie couldn't contain her laughter at the look on Thor's face and put a hand to her mouth to hide the worst of her noise. It did nothing to shield her shaking shoulders from their view, but Thor was more preoccupied with asking Lena how she knew about that scene.

"OH! I know! We can do the scene just after Loki's interrogation if you want us to," Nathan suggested. "It's fun."

"Go for it," Tony said, before anyone else could object. "I wanna see just how good you are."

Brenda grinned and began. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" she asked.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So Thor, what's his play?"

Thor, confused, opened his mouth to answer, but Lena swiftly cut him off. "He has an army, called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor any world known. They will win him the earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army. From outer space." Stephanie did her best 'are you serious' face at that moment.

"He's building another portal. That's what he needs Selvig for."

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist-"

"-he's a friend."

"Loki has him under a spell, along with one of ours," Nathan jumped in.

Stephanie took a moment to look around the room, at the widened eyes, slack jaws, and soft spluttering that was taking place. She knew that they were almost believing their story, but it wasn't quite there...

With a start, she realized that it was her turn to speak and quickly dove back into the familiar words. "I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."

Brenda grinned. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. The guy's like a bag of cats. You can smell the crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak. Loki may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother," Lena said.

"He killed eighty people in two days," Nathan said, face void of all emotion except for a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"He's adopted," Lena said smoothly, and Stephanie slow-clapped her approval.

"Excellent. That couldn't have gone better," she said with a wide grin.

Tony softly whistled. "Um... wow," he said after a brief pause.

"Cool, huh?" Claire asked dryly. "We each watched it like a million times to learn all the lines."

Stephanie rubbed her shoulder quietly. "Kinda hate to break this up, but shouldn't we be going?" she asked pointedly. "If Thor and Loki are gonna make it back to Asgard..."

"Right. Go put on civilian clothes," Natasha ordered. "We meet in five minutes to get on the quinjets-"

The younger set was already gone.


	17. Chapter 17

HEYYYYYY! WE SURVIVED APOCALYPSE 2012!

That's enough of that. My Facebook was lit up enough as it is.

Not much else to say- I wish you a Merry Christmas and will update before the New Year!

(0)^_^(0)

Claire got out of the matte black SHIELD car and quietly walked over to Clint. He rested a hand gently on her shoulder and guided her over to the middle of Central Park, where some of the others were already standing. She nodded warmly to Lori and looked away when Loki tried to catch her gaze.

Lena hurried over and said loudly, "Be safe, Claire! Shoot straight, my friend."

Claire couldn't hold back a smile and gently hugged Lena. The two weren't particularly close, but had a good relationship. Lena was great for a laugh- Claire would miss her. She glanced down at herself- her lavender top was crinkled, and she straightened it quickly.

She watched as Lori and Lena made their rounds, hugging everyone or shaking hands. Stephanie messed up Lori's perfect braid and laughed as Lori whined loudly about it, trying to poke Stephanie in the side, before a quick smack made her whine more while nursing her hands. Lori's scarf danced in the wind as she suddenly became serious and began talking.

Lena was talking animatedly to Tasha, who was nodding and trying to get a word in edgewise, before Lena gave her a bone-crushing hug and moved on. Nathan highfived her and Natasha nodded to her, arms crossed over her chest. Brenda smiled and hugged her friend tightly.

Lori was suddenly right in front of Claire, and she jumped a bit. Lori laughed and said, "Be careful, ok? I'm sorry for everything Loki's done to you two." The last sentence was directed at Clint and Claire both. Clint nodded while the smile dimmed on Claire's face.

She didn't remember much from her time as Loki's brain-slave. The only clear thing was Clint, and a bit of Selvig. The scientist had been kind to her, even under mind control. Clint had protected her, even though he didn't trust her much. Her one clear memory was a guard jumping her and her hitting her head on something- then Clint shouting angrily at the guard and helping to her feet as she held a hand to her head. Red blood had covered her hand- that was the last thing she remembered...

She was shaken from her memories as Thor picked up the containment device and extended it. The Tesseract was placed inside it, and Claire's gaze caught movement. Stephanie was hugging Steve silently, both watching the Tesseract as the containment device was sealed.

She tapped Clint's hand and stood on her toes as he bent over slightly. "The end of the road," she whispered softly, and shot a pointed glance at the two super soldiers. Clint followed her gaze and nodded once.

Lena and Lori latched onto the handles of the containment device. Lori linked arms with Loki as Lena wrapped an arm around Thor silently. Thor looked around the circle and nodded once. He twisted the handle and they started to vanish.

"BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY!" Lori shouted at the last second, and Claire exploded in laughter, grinning as they vanished. She was glad for the diversion- it hid the tears in her eyes.

"Party in the Tower!" Tony shouted as he walked over to the several-thousand dollar car and hopped over the door. Tasha laughed and did the same, hot-rod red shirt flapping in the breeze, getting into the back of the car. Brenda and Bruce opened the doors in a more civilized fashion and climbed in. Bruce threw his bag in the back casually as Brenda leaned forward, hand holding her blue shirt to keep it from falling open as she said something.

Steve pointed Stephanie over to his motorcycle and said something softly to her. She shook her head cheerfully and her shoulders slumped silently as he laughed and shook his own head, handing her a helmet off the back of the bike. She pouted and tugged lightly at her white summer dress, making puppy eyes at Steve.

Claire started as Clint pointed her back to the SHIELD car. Nathan was standing by the door. As she approached, he opened the door and bowed her into the car. She paused long enough to lift his chin and kiss him firmly.

Tasha wolf-whistled as Tony screeched away from the site. Claire drew away, laughing a little bit, as she slid into the car and Nathan joined her, tweaking his black jacket slightly.

She glanced behind the car as Clint drove off, to see Stephanie with an old army helmet on her head, sitting on the back of Steve's bike as he swung on. She waved cheerfully to Claire and Nathan as Steve swung onto the bike and started it, pulling away smoothly.

"Where to?" she asked the car at large.

"Well, we've been assigned to Stark Tower. Fury has assigned it as the new base for the Avengers," Natasha explained.

"Really? Doesn't it need MAJOR repairs?" Claire asked, sliding her hand into Nathan's.

"So the Helicarrier doesn't?" Clint asked, barely amused at the reminder of what he had done.

"Point," she murmured.

"We're heading there now," Natasha said.

"What about Stephanie and Steve?"

"They'll meet us there. They have to pick some stuff from Steve's apartment," Nathan said before either of the agents could. "Stephanie mentioned it earlier."

"What about you?" Claire asked curiously. "Will you be there?"

"Yeah... Fury wants me away from SHIELD for the moment," Clint murmured, shifting gears with a little more force than strictly necessary. "I've been getting plenty of nasty looks for my... role in the Helicarrier's sudden drop."

"They're just happy they finally have something to complain about," Natasha said dryly. "It'll go away after a while." She casually reached over and rested her hand on his own for a moment.

Claire caught Nathan's eye and grinned, pulling her hand out of his and holding both hands up. She mashed them together and mouthed, "NOW KISS!"

They were still laughing when they pulled up to Stark Tower.

(0)^_^(0)

"Let me look!" Tasha ordered, frowning angrily at Tony and gently hitting his arm. "I can't see!"

"Ok, geez, impatient little mini-me," Tony said sarcastically. "What do you think?"

He pulled a model of the Tower up and pointed to a floor. "This one is supposed to be yours," he explained. "You share with Brenda. Stephanie, Claire, and Nathan share a floor, because Miss Morals will keep them from doing... anything. Lori and Lena share a floor, because, well, they're sisters." He shrugged slightly.

Tasha frowned. "Why an entire floor just for Lori and Lena? They aren't even here right now."

Tony took a half step back and looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "You honestly think that they won't come visit?" he asked incredulously.

Tasha sighed. "Point." She wandered over to the bar as Jarvis' crisp British voice said, "Sir, there-"

"Shut up Jarvis. Take a break or something," Tony said.

"Want a drink? I'm having one," Tasha said as she pulled out a glass and a bottle of something.

"That better not be alcohol," Tony said, pointing at the bottle of clear liquid.

"Awww!" she whined angrily as the elevator doors dinged open. "But DAAAAAAADDDDD-"

"Dad?" a crisp female voice asked incredulously.

Tasha's eye widened in shock, and she turned to stare at Pepper Potts, who was looking back and forth between the two geniuses. She was wearing a crisp business suit, and Tasha suddenly felt self-conscious in her jeans, Vans, and ACDC teeshirt.

"Pepper, I can explain-" Tony said quickly, closing the model Tower as Tasha took the distraction and ran with it, dumping some of the liquid into her glass. "And TASHA! No drinking, young lady." She pouted and put the drink down. "I'll have it- I'm gonna need it."

Pepper walked forward, sensible shoes clicking on the ground as she made her way over to the holographic image. "I'm gone for only a few days, and in that time period you somehow find a daughter," she said dryly. "Heaven knows what you'd get up to if I was gone for a year."

"Pepper, she's not even my daughter-" Tony started to protest.

"That stings, Dad, it really does," Tasha said dramatically, handing a drink to Tony as she took a sip of water.

Tony took a swig and glared at her. "You-" he said, pointing at Tasha with the glass- "aren't helping."

She smirked and raised her glass briefly, draining it quickly.

"Tasha over there is my mini-me, gender-bender clone," Tony said casually.

Pepper paused, eyes narrowing as she compared similarities between Tasha and Tony. Evidently she found what she wanted after a few uncomfortable minutes, because she nodded and said simply, "Ok."

Tony smiled happily, before she said, "But I do want answers."

Tony groaned, as Tasha laughed from her seat on the counter. "Later?" he asked, more a question than a statement.

"As long as I get them, it doesn't matter when we talk," Pepper said calmly. "I also want answers as to that sacrificial stunt you pulled with the missile."

Tasha nodded and slid off the counter, putting her glass down and walking forward to where Pepper was standing. "I'm Tasha. I've been going by Tasha Stark recently. You must be Pepper- Tony thinks the world of you," she said casually.

Pepper took the extended hand and shook firmly. "It's nice to meet you, Tasha," she said warmly. "Your guess was right. I'm Pepper."

"Oh, and, uh, just a heads-up? I... might've invited some friends to live here..." Tony said... shyly?

Tasha hid a grin at Pepper's exasperated sigh. "How many and who?" she asked.

"Um, a super soldier who knew my dad, two master assassins, an Asgardian god, and-"

The elevator dinged and Brenda was through the doors before they had fully opened. "TASHA!" she shrieked in excitement. "Oh my goodness, you won't BELIEVE all the toys they have in the lab!"

Tasha laughed brightly and waved to Bruce as he wandered over to Tony, hands in his pockets. Brenda was still talking as Tasha turned her attention back to her friend. "- and I'm fairly certain they have-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down!" Tasha said with a laugh.

"Sir, there will be visitors shortly in the lounge," Jarvis said.

"How many and who?"

"Mr. and Miss Barton, Mr. and Miss Rogers, and Mr. and Miss Romanoff."

"Great- the gang'll all be here!" Tony proclaimed brightly, raising his glass for a brief second. Then he paused. "Capsicle better not want me to put my drink away, cause it isn't happening."


	18. Chapter 18

So, Christmas came and went, and left behind a nasty surprise- I'm kinda sick. I'm just about good for nothing- including writing- right now, but - GOOD NEWS - All Hallow's is just about finished and the sequel is in the works!

So please enjoy and Happy New Year!

(0)^_^(0)

Nathan was absolutely stunned at how fast Stark got the Tower repaired and in full working order.

Within two days the lounge was repaired and their floors were halfway to being complete. Of course, Tony being Tony, they were each mini tech centers, and that would take time to wire up, but they had time.

The team worked in the streets with the citizens of New York often, trying to clear rubble away from the streets. There was, quite literally, several billion dollars worth of damage done to the city, and it would possibly take years for the city to recover. The city's psychology? That could take decades.

Well over 500 people were dead. At least a thousand more died without receiving proper medical care, or died of severe wounds. The wounded count topped 7,000 easily, and everyone in the city had minor injuries- cuts, bruises, scrapes.

The Avengers were in the thick of the cleanup. Bruce was most often seen at med tents, setting up triage and directing doctors and nurses. Brenda stuck to his side like glue- which Nathan figured was just as well. No one would take kindly to being ordered around by a 16-year-old girl.

And they were reminded of their age very often. Almost every evening the younger set would complain to the adults about an experience from the day, in which inevitably someone had told them to "let the grownups do the work" and "go help somewhere else". The adults tried to help, but they were often in demand, some having been identified as the Avengers.

So the teens soldiered on through the cleanup, helping each other to the best of their ability. Claire and Nathan were never seen apart, and Tasha stuck close to Brenda for the most part, leaving Stephanie as the loner. She didn't complain- like her older counterpart- but everyone could tell she felt the loss of her best friend keenly.

Nathan dropped down onto a bench next to Claire, chugging down a water bottle in one fell swoop. She wiped her forehead off with a heavy sigh as he screwed the cap back on and winged the bottle into a passing trash bag.

Claire smiled up at him, grey eyes filled with happiness. "Hello, handsome," she teased, sliding her hand into his. "How're you doing?"

"Better, since a pretty girl started talking to me," he said with his best "charming smirk". Claire laughed a little bit and leaned her head against his shoulder, watching the others.

"Dad and Natasha seem kind of out of place," she observed quietly.

Nathan looked over at the two and laughed a bit. "That they do," he remarked softly, as Natasha was forced to pause and listen to a small girl request her autograph. Natasha faked a charming smile and nodded, and the small girl extended a marker and a piece of newspaper- the article on the Avengers. She signed it and waved the girl away with a politely bland smile.

"Have you seen Tony?" she asked.

Nathan paused. "Hm?"

Claire repeated the question.

"No. I'm guessing he's still negotiating for supplies up at the Tower," Nathan said. "And Tasha's over with Brenda and Bruce."

Claire sighed, settling into him a little more. "Stephanie's looking tired."

"She hasn't stopped looking tired since the reunion at the Tower."

"I hope she's ok."

"She's got the serum, she'll be fine," Nathan said dismissively.

They sat in silence for a few more moments, before Stephanie's voice was suddenly raised. "Over here! I've found someone-" Her voice trailed off slowly.

The two exchanged glances and hurried to see who it was. They walked into the growing crowd of people and shoved forwards.

Steve was guiding a crying Stephanie away from a small pile of rubble, where a small girl, perhaps five, was lying unconscious. Her left arm was mangled as a medical team lifted her onto a stretcher and Bruce worriedly guided her to the nearby med tent. Steve himself was glancing at the girl every now and then, whispering softly to Stephanie.

Brenda looked torn between following Bruce and staying with Stephanie, but finally made up her mind and hurried over to Stephanie's side. Nathan watched, worried, as she wrapped an arm around Stephanie's shoulder and began speaking softly to the crying supersoldier.

"We try to make ourselves look like adults, but sometimes we forget we're still just kids," Tasha said from behind the couple. Nathan and Claire jumped slightly and turned to look at her.

Tasha was watching the small girl on the stretcher as she stood, feet firmly planted in the rubble and her hands folded behind her back. Her Arc Reactor looked slightly dimmer, as if to reflect her mood, and her eyes were a darker green than normal.

"We're so caught up in reminding people we're older than we look, we forget that we're younger than we believe," Tasha continued solemnly.

Nathan was quiet for a moment, soaking her words of wisdom in, before he asked, "Have you been looking at those stupid demotivational posters again?"

Tasha's lip twitched. "Thanks for ruining it, Spider-kid."

"Speaking of which, I wonder if there are other superheroes around here," Claire murmured, ignoring Nathan's protests against the nickname.

"I don't know," Tasha said. "But I can find out- later."

They watched as Brenda said something to Steve and gently led Stephanie away, over to where a small daycare was set up. Brenda whispered something in Stephanie's ear and gave her a small push over towards the hassled woman, who was trying to juggle two toddlers at once. Stephanie walked forwards hesitantly and was immediately presented with one toddler and a pointing finger towards a group of young kids coloring. She shot a grateful look to Brenda and waved at Steve as she lifted the kid onto one hip and wandered over to help.

"I guess we should get back to work," Claire said with a heavy sigh, rising smoothly to her feet. She turned to look at Nathan, who had his legs stretched out in front of him and looked about ready to take a nap. She sighed in annoyance and smacked Nathan's head gently.

"Ow!" Nathan whined, hand flying to his ear as he frowned at Claire. "I was just trying to sleep. God, what's a guy gotta do to get a nap around here?"

"You have to work until you can't work any more," Claire said severely, grabbing Nathan's hand and pulling him to his feet. Nathan begrudgingly stood, but instead of going off to work, he wrapped both arms securely around Claire and just stood there for a moment, face buried in her hair as he breathed in her scent. Claire, surprisingly, didn't seem adverse to him hugging her, and returned the hug warmly.

Claire finally pulled away and kissed Nathan. Finally they pulled away and Nathan smiled at her. "What was that for?" he asked her.

"For staying alive," she said, reminding him of the battle. Then she pulled away and walked off, waving over her shoulder as he sighed a bit and went to help someone with rubble-clearing.


	19. Chapter 19

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And that's enough of that stuff.

Only about... 3 more chapters, I think. For everyone who's been asking me if they're going home, that would be telling, and I don't tell. Sorry! You'll just have to wait and see.

Enjoy this chapter!

(0)^_^(0)

Brenda watched as a helicopter picked up the young girl Stephanie had found, to take her to an out-of-state, fully stocked and staffed hospital. She bit her lip silently, brow furrowed, as she glanced carefully over her shoulder at Stephanie. She closed her eyes briefly- Stephanie was an angel, and a naive one at that. She had a hard time processing blood and bones, unlike Brenda, who had grown up in a large family with several brothers. She had a tendency to brush off gore.

Stephanie was the team's binding factor, she realized suddenly. She was the one who knew everyone best and could keep them glued together. She knew Brenda from being three houses down, Claire, Tasha and Nathan from school, and Lori and Lena from church. Brenda paused to consider the implications of the two Christian demigoddesses and laughed softly, shaking her head.

"What's up?" Bruce asked softly, looking at her with worry in his eyes.

"Nothing. Just thinking that Lori and Lena are Christians, and now they're demigoddesses," she said dryly.

Bruce laughed quietly. "That's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. Ready to get back to work?"

Brenda nodded, then paused. "Fa- Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you do it?" she asked.

Bruce glanced up from splinting a broken arm to say, "What do you mean?"

Brenda paused again to collect her thoughts. "How do you deal with the pain around you?" she asked finally. "Why'd you choose to be a doctor?"

Bruce slowly finished wrapping up the arm and walked over to another doctor, murmuring something to the woman. She nodded and said something back, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder and pointing him towards Brenda. He stuffed his hands into his pocket as he came back over and murmured, "Let's take a walk."

Brenda obediently put her roll of gauze on a table and followed him, stuffing her arms into the sleeves of her jean jacket. It was chilly, perhaps an after effect of the portal, and she was grateful for the extra warmth as Bruce gently placed an arm over her shoulder, guiding her off to a smaller street, where Clint and Claire were working. The two looked up as they wandered over, and Bruce waved off their concerned glances with a wan smile.

They were silent for a moment, until Brenda could no longer stand the oppressive silence around them and began kicking rocks.

"You know I was a scientist for a while," he said suddenly.

Brenda nodded.

"And you know about how I became the other guy, I presume," he said, shooting her a chastising glance. She dropped her head and blushed at the reminder of the Young Avenger's cover-up.

"After I... became the other guy, I felt like I needed to help mend the damage the other guy had done," he said quietly. "I tried for a long time to kick the other guy out..." He trailed off, and Brenda turned to him, hugging him silently, forcing the thoughts of his attempted suicide out of her head. Bruce gently hugged back, smoothing her hair out of his face, before Brenda pulled back. They both pretended they didn't see the tears in her eyes.

"But that didn't work," Brenda said, voice quavering slightly. "Thankfully."

He glanced over at her, and a small smile crossed his face as she leaned into him. "No, it didn't. So... I moved on. I did my best to help others. Moved to remote places, where no one would recognize me. I never planned on coming back to the United States."

Brenda nodded. She knew.

"So... I became a doctor to help people I had hurt. Does that answer your question?"

Brenda nodded hesitantly, before saying, "But it's the other guy that hurts people. You just try to repair the damage."

Bruce smiled bitterly. "Sometimes I'm not so sure."

They moved a few pieces of rubble off the street, and Bruce pulled Brenda back and turned his face away as a military vehicle rolled by. Brenda looked worriedly up at him, as the truck rolled on, and whispered, "Father, are you ok?"

It took Bruce a moment to process what Brenda had called him. When he finally finished processing it, he looked at her sharply. "Don't call me that."

"What?" Brenda asked, in confusion.

"Father. You have a biological father back wherever you're from."

Brenda looked crestfallen. "Um... no, I actually don't."

"What? Why?"

She bit her lip. "I have a stepfather. My dad and mom divorced when I was little. My biological father didn't keep in touch. I doubt he remembers I exist."

Bruce was quiet, floundering for a reason for Brenda not to call him "Father". "I'm a monster- you wouldn't want me for your father," he finally said.

"I am too, y'know," Brenda said quietly. "You aren't the only Hulk any more, Father."

"Then it's even more dangerous for you. Ross is still after me- I doubt he'll be kind to you after he finds out you're like me," he said.

She paused, then frowned and shrugged. "Then Ross'll have an entire team of superheroes- plus their mini-mes- on his back, and I bet they'll come down like a ton of bricks. Tony still has some weight in the military, and I'm betting SHIELD is storing some of Ross' dirty little secrets." Her voice took on a smug tone. "And Ross wouldn't want his dirty laundry aired for all the world to see, now, would he?"

He couldn't refute her logic. So, instead of trying to find another reason, he instead hugged her gently and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Father." It had a nice ring to it. And of all his names, it certainly wasn't the worst.

(0)^_^(0)

Nathan wandered over to where Natasha was clearing rubble. She picked up a large piece and heaved it into a nearby dumpster, pausing only a second to wipe her forehead and then reaching down to pick up another bit of concrete.

Nathan silently followed her lead, throwing a few smaller pieces into the dumpster.

"What do you want?"

Nathan started slightly. "What?"

"I said, what do you want?" Natasha repeated impatiently. "If you want to call me "Mom" you might as well go away, because you're sure as he** not going to get that."

"No! Nonononono GOD no," Nathan said hastily, holding both hands up. "I have a decent mother, thanks."

"Good," Natasha said firmly.

It seemed to get a little easier to breathe around the two after that. One could no longer cut the tension in the air with a knife.

"Teach me," Nathan said suddenly.

"Teach you what?" Natasha asked. She didn't seem surprised.

"Teach me how to fight better." He looked over at her, eyes alight with passion. "I want to be able to fight."

"Anything in particular?" she asked.

"Er... fist-fighting?" Nathan asked. It was more of a question than an answer, and Natasha wasn't pleased by it.

"Let me ask you again, and I want a solid answer instead of a 'I'm not sure so I'll waste your time' answer," she said, voice cold as she locked eyes with him. Nathan swallowed and nodded.

"What do you want to learn?"

"Fist-fighting," he said firmly. There was no question this time.

Natasha smiled grimly. "Good. We start tomorrow morning, 5:30."

Nathan groaned slightly. What had he gotten himself into?


	20. Chapter 20

Extremely long chapter that I didn't feel like chopping up! YAY!

So here's the deal with the sequel, guys. I have REALLY been neglecting my HPFF and I kinda want to focus on that for a while. That doesn't mean that this sequel is on hold, however. I have a good portion of it written- it's just the parts that are written are all the action-y bits. So the filler bits have yet to be written.

I will work on the sequel, I PROMISE. I just have promised 3 different sequels for three different stories and I want to get them done one-at-a-time. If I do happen to finish the sequel, then I will start posting it because it's DONE and the only work required is to hit that little 'Post' button.

So for now, enjoy the wrapping-up of All Hallow's Eve.

(0)^_^(0)

They fell into a routine of sorts after the first week.

Mornings were dedicated to working out, sparring, and usually inventing for the "Science Sis-es" and the "Science Bros". They had been tossing new improvements around for everyone and eventually ended up with some spectacular upgrades.

Tasha had put in a special effort to create a suit for Brenda, so she could Hulk out and not have to worry about her clothes... taking a one-way trip to the trash can and leaving her with nothing to wear somewhere. They hadn't had a chance to test the suit yet, but Tasha had promised spectacular results.

Claire and Clint's quivers had also recieved a massive upgrade. There were at least ten new types of arrows in their inventory, including an arrowhead with a mini rocket attached to it and an arrow with a poisonous gas contained in the tip.

Nathan and Natasha's Widow's Stings had taken a large hit, with power capacity increasing by almost 200%. They couldn't do much for the Rogers, but both shields received a shiny paint job and their suits were fully repaired.

The Iron Man suits were completely repaired and Tasha's makeshift suit was now more permanent. They were fully restocked and also had a shiny paint job- Tasha's suit was now the inverted colors of Tony's.

Workout sessions were usually extremely intense with the two assassins and the super soldier. The Young Avengers, as they had taken to calling themselves, were in much better condition than during the battle for Manhattan.

They had also- finally- come up with names for themselves.

"I'm getting rather tired of 'Mini-Cap'," Stephanie mentioned out of the blue one day, as the younger set sat around a table playing Monopoly.

"Same with me," Claire complained, as she rolled a double 4 and snatched up the Free Parking. "Mini-Hawk is getting REALLY overused."

"So, any ideas?" Brenda asked. "Because the best I'm gonna every be able to get is Mini-Hulk."

"As long as the rest of us aren't Minis as well, we should be fine," Nathan said, moving his piece three spaces and swearing as he saw he had landed on Park Place- owned by Brenda.

Claire casually leaned over and slapped him- hard- and resumed her seat as he rubbed his head and muttered angrily under his breath. "So, for Tasha?" She paused, then waved a hand over Tasha's face. "Um... hello?"

She started and straightened. "My turn?"

"Yeah. And also- superhero names."

Tasha rolled the dice and moved her token, drawing a Community Chest card and happily presenting it for ten dollars to the bank- Brenda, as the most trustworthy person besides Stephanie.

"Thank you. And I've hand names planned for months," she said dismissively, waving her hand casually.

Claire's eyebrow rose. "Do tell."

"It's all really simple. Captain America- He's the ultimate patriot. But he's already got a name, so Stephanie- you're Patriot."

She nodded with a small smile. "Reasonable," she murmured.

"Iron Man- Couldn't really think of a good one, except for perhaps the Iron Maiden."

"A rock band and something that really does suit you," Claire said. "It fits."

"Thank you!" Tasha beamed at her for a moment, before continuing, "And because of Hawkeye, and his accuracy, and your own improving accuracy- I dub thee Bullseye!"

Claire grinned.

"You're forgetting someone," Nathan prompted.

Tasha frowned for a moment. Her expression momentarily brightened, before suddenly falling. "Nope. I think that's it."

Brenda laughed and nudged Tasha's leg. "Go on, Iron Maiden. Share your wisdom with us mortals."

Tasha smirked and said, "Nathan- I came up with Recluse, because of the Black Widow. What's another extremely poisonous spider?"

"The Brown Recluse," Nathan said, with a grin. "I like it!"

"I do too." Tasha sat back in her seat, smiling smugly as she examined her property cards. "After all, I got the brains of a super genius."

Stephanie snorted. "And the hunk of metal implanted in the chest. That's a big plus," she said sarcastically.

Tasha's face fell slightly. "Yeah, about that," she said softly, hand softly touching her Arc Reactor.

"Surely you don't need it," Nathan said. "I mean, you don't have any shrapnel trying to bore its way into your heart."

Tasha sighed. "Mine is slightly different than da- Tony's," she said, quickly correcting herself. "We ran some tests to see if it was necessary, and it turns out..."

She paused briefly. "I don't think I've ever told any of you this, but I was born with a hole in my heart. I had to have several major surgeries to correct it, but in the end, it was ok."

She sighed heavily. "When I came here, that hole in my heart reopened. The thing blocking blood from getting out was gone- inexplicably- and I was in danger of dying. The Arc Reactor was the solution to the problem. It has some way of stopping the hole in my heart and keeping me alive." She tapped the Reactor and smiled. "So, yeah. It's a... necessary evil, shall we say."

Stephanie nodded and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. For trusting us," she said warmly.

Tasha smiled a bit. "You're welcome. Now you know why," she said quietly.

Stephanie rolled and asked casually, "So how're the repairs coming along?"

"Decently," Claire said with a grimace. "The casualties are staggering..." She trailed off as Brenda made a grand throat-cutting motion and angrily jabbed a finger at Stephanie, mouthing, "TOUCHY SUBJECT!"

Nathan hastily picked up where she had left off and continued, "It looks like New York will be recovering for months, if not years. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a decade to repair."

Stephanie looked up and nodded somberly as she passed the die to Nathan. "I'm not surprised," she commented. "The damage to New York is immense. But the American psyche... That'll take a generation to heal."

They all nodded, as Nathan rolled the die. Claire suddenly spoke.

"Hey... Wait a minute!"

"What is it, Claire?" Stephanie asked blandly.

"You- you just skipped me!" she yelled.

Stephanie's eyes crinkled merrily as she held back laughter. Tasha snorted into her hands and Brenda giggled. Nathan smirked at Claire as she grabbed for the die.

"Give me those things!" she ordered, pointing to Nathan's clenched hands. "They're mine! You get them in a few minutes!"

"Quick- Bren, catch!" Nathan ordered, tossing the die to Brenda. She caught them and placed them firmly on the table. Claire snatched them up as Nathan complained, "Hey! You ruined my fun!"

"Then learn your lesson- never hand the object of a fight to a pacifist. They will inevitably return said object to its rightful owner," Brenda deadpanned.

Nathan groaned angrily and stood up. "Ok, I'm off," he said.

"What? Going to go pout in a corner?" Claire asked.

"Nah. Going to go practice fist-fighting. Anyone coming with me?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said, rising smoothly to her feet and stretching her hands high over her head, spinning on her toes as she sighed in contentment. Her back popped several times, and she smiled happily.

"Ok. Meet you downstairs," Nathan said, waving over his shoulder as he walked over to the elevator and hit the button.

(0)^_^(0)

Afternoons were usually team bonding times or get-out-and-clean-up times. Almost an entire week was devoted to cleaning up the main lounge after the attack, and there was still debris scattered around and a huge hole in the floor from Hulk smashing Loki. Tasha had said Tony- or "Dad", as she now seemed inclined to call him- planned on getting it framed.

Claire sat cross-legged on a couch, seated across from Clint. She was messing around with her new Starkphone, a gift from Tony after the battle, while Clint was flipping channels on the TV.

"What're you doing?" Clint asked, after about a half-hour of silence.

Claire jumped a bit. "Nothing much," she said, pulling her phone up so he couldn't see Pintrest on the screen. "Whatcha watching?"

"Military documentary," he said.

They lapsed back into companionable silence for a while longer, before the TV suddenly muted and Claire looked up, startled. "What's wrong?"

Clint sighed and twisted himself to look at her. "Are you alright?" he asked seriously.

Claire frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked warily, even though she figured she knew what he was talking about.

"After the mind control. Are you ok?" Clint's serious grey eyes met her own.

Claire paused and turned off her phone, crossed her arms and sank back into the cushions. "I-" she started to say, then paused and frowned slightly. "I... I think I'm fine. I don't think Loki really had time to give me orders to kill someone. I'm more worried about you than I am myself."

Clint smiled a bit, but it was false and didn't reach his eyes. "I'm... fine," he said warily.

"You didn't sound fine when you told Natasha you were going to check yourself in for psychiatric help," she said firmly, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.

Clint's eyes sharpened. "How'd you find out about that?" he demanded.

"I have my sources," Claire said, trying and failing to sound mysterious.

He paused. A small smile grew on his face, and he said, "You've been crawling around in the air vents again, haven't you?"

She blushed and nodded a tiny bit.

Clint laughed.

Claire's head came up from staring at her hands. She hadn't heard him ever laugh- certainly not since clean-up had begun. She was almost convinced that his laughter was a privilege awarded only to Natasha.

Apparently she was wrong.

A shy smile grew across her face. Claire pulled her knees up to her chest and said, "Well, I only learned from the best!"

Clint shook his head and smiled a bit.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Claire casually said, "So, looks like Steph, Tasha, and Brenda have all started calling their originals 'Dad' or some variation of it."

Clint didn't respond.

Claire bit her lip. This was not the way she wanted this conversation to go. "What do you think about it?" she prompted.

He shrugged a bit. "They can do what they want."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Something seemed wrong...

Then she saw his dancing eyes.

"Darn it! You've already figured it out!" she burst out.

Clint burst out laughing once again, turning to grin at her. "Yeah, and if you really want to call me 'Dad' or whatever..."

"Thank you!" she said happily. He stood up and stretched, looking like he was going to go do something- probably shoot his bow at a target for a couple of hours.

Clint was entirely unprepared for Claire to also stand up and walk forwards to hug him.

He stiffened slightly, then relaxed marginally and patted her back gently. "So, what's my nickname?" he asked, half-joking.

"Hm... I think I'll call you... Either Papa or Padre," she said, looking entirely serious.

"Anything but that!" he said, horrified.

Claire started laughing and pulled back. "Just joking. I'm calling you Dad," she said happily. "Thank you... for everything."

(0)^_^(0)

The evenings were devoted to dinner and occasionally a game or a movie.

'Family' or 'team' dinners were few and far between, but occasionally Pepper managed to drag Tony, Tasha, Brenda, and Bruce out of their labs and down to the lounge. Stephanie had yet to see a formal dinner table, and she guessed that Tony just didn't care enough to actually buy one.

They just used the TV area most nights.

The third team dinner was a Friday night. Someone had ordered Chinese food and the team was gathered around the TV, arguing over what to watch.

"We have to watch Gone with the Wind- it's a classic!" Bruce insisted. "And it's something Steve will be comfortable with."

"No. I want to watch Real Steel. I mean, giant robots fighting other giant robots? C'mon! It's awesome!" Tony whined.

Stephanie looked at the younger set and caught their eyes as she nibbled on her Chow Mein. A mischievous smile broke across her face, and she started humming a certain Doctor's theme song.

Claire's head snapped up, and she shouted, "Doctor Who!"

Stephanie nodded vigorously and held out a hand for a high-five. "Best bet," she said with a quick shrug.

"What's Doctor Who?" Steve asked.

"It's a TV show about an alien that has two hearts and can travel through time, using a big blue London Call Box. He calls himself a 'madman with a box' in one of the episodes- which is... very true," Brenda explained, eyes sparkling.

"9, 10, 11?" Nathan called.

"10. You?" Stephanie asked.

Brenda reached out a hand for a fist-bump.

"11, personally," Nathan answered. "Anyone else watch Doctor Who?"

To everyone's shock, Natasha raised her hand, closely followed by Clint. "What?" she snapped. "It's very..."

"Wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey?" Tasha suggested.

Natasha nodded with a tiny hint of a smile on her lips. "Yes."

"So Doctor Who it is then!" Tasha proclaimed, having liberated the remote from a small war between Tony and Steve. She opened Netflix and started scrolling through the seasons.

"Blink! Do Blink!" Claire called out excitedly.

Tasha's head whipped around so fast her ponytail smacked her in the face. "We want to introduce them to Doctor Who, not make them run away screaming!" she said.

"Point. Asylum of the Daleks?"

"Meh. Then you don't understand Amy and Rory," Stephanie complained.

"Best place to start would probably be... Rose," Clint said. "It basically explains a lot of Doctor Who- like the companions, the enemies, what the Doctor is."

"That one's plenty creepy. And Rose- Rose is..."

"FANTASTIC!" Tasha, Brenda, and Claire chorused at once.

She laughed and nodded as Pepper stuck her head out of the elevator. "I brought popcorn. Have you decided on a movie?"

"We're watching Doctor Who," Tony informed her, with a slight frown.

"Don't be such a baby about it," she told him, placing the bowl of popcorn on the table and watching as it was half-gone in seconds.

The opening scene began to roll and Stephanie settled into her seat on the arm of the couch, next to Steve. He handed her a blanket and moved over a bit so she could settle in next to him, and she gratefully did so.

None of the Young Avengers wanted the night to end. But all good things must have an ending, and they all knew it.

They just didn't expect it to be so soon.


	21. Chapter 21

Well, ladies and gents, this is it.

The cumulation of 21 chapters.

Over 37,000 words- my longest story to date.

78 reviews as I type this.

All Hallow's Eve...

Is over.

Now, there will be a sequel, and I'm working really hard on it. It might even beat its predecessor's wordcount.

But as of right now...

IT IS FINISHED.

Please enjoy and review if you liked this story.

(0)^_^(0)

It was the very next night after watching Doctor Who. The Young Avengers were scattered around the Tower, helping out on numerous projects, or just hanging out.

Tony and Tasha were down on the sciency floors, as they were referred to by most of the team. Everyone else- with the exceptions of Pepper and Steve- were hanging out on the main lounge floor. Pepper was at a business meeting, Jarvis had informed them, and Steve was beating up punching bags.

The elevator doors opened. "Anyone seen Tasha?" Tony asked casually, stepping into the lounge. "She said she had to go do something and then kinda vanished. She hasn't come back yet."

"Sir, she isn't in the Tower," Jarvis reported. Brenda frowned. Was that a hint of... worry in the AI's tone?"

"So she's been kidnapped?" Tony said sharply.

"No, sir. Her heat signature disintegrated a few minutes ago in the elevator, between her level and the lounge."

Stephanie looked up from her Starkphone and frowned. "That makes no sense... unless..."

Her eyes suddenly widened. Fear covered her face as she asked quickly, "Where's Steve?!"

"Punching punching bags... why?"

"Get him up here- we're leaving!" she said in a panicked voice, rising to her feet swiftly.

Everyone else started as Claire shouted something and stared at her hands. They were vanishing, and her head snapped up to stare at Clint.

"I'm sorry! I'll miss you, Dad!" she wailed in sadness as Clint took a few steps forward- and then she was gone.

"Captain Rogers is on his way," Jarvis said.

"We just have to stay for five more minutes!" Stephanie whispered, willing herself not to vanish.

Brenda was crying as she, too, started to vanish from the waist up. "Bruce- Father- be careful," she ordered, tears streaming down her cheeks. Bruce nodded as he looked like he was trying not to cry.

Nathan didn't even have time to say goodbye before he was gone. Stephanie was practically hyperventilating by the time the doors opened, all the way across the lounge.

She felt an odd tingling begin in her hands and started sprinting towards Steve, who was looking confused. "We're going back- I'm left and I won't be here much longer!" she shouted quickly, willing herself to stay.

But it wasn't working, and just as she was about to hug Steve for the last time, she felt her control slipping. The last thing she managed to yell was "DAD!" before she was gone, and Steve was left grasping for open air.

(0)^_^(0)

Lori and Lena sat in the Great Hall in Asgard. It was large, and ornate columns ringed the roof, which was partly cut away to reveal the night sky. The sky itself shone with billions of stars and galaxies that truly couldn't compare the view back on earth.

More than once, Lori was caught staring open-mouthed at it.

Lori wore a long emerald green gown with a black shawl draped over her shoulders lazily. Her black hair had been combed into an Asgardian fashion, and the only Midgardian thing she wore was a thick scarf Loki had given to her. It was patterned green and cream, and was the scarf he had chosen to wear at Stuttgart only a few nights earlier.

Lena sat next to Lori, both cheerful, but both feeling the unresolved tension swirling around them. Lena wore a deep red dress, only this one with long sleeves, unlike Lori's. She raised one eyebrow at her stepsister. Lori's frown dropped a little.

A small polished silver plate lay in front of the two teens. On each a pure golden apple rested. Lori looked at it cautiously.

"To Lady Lena and Lady Lori!" Sif said jovially, raising her goblet in the air. She gave a rare smile at the two. Lori clinked glasses with Lena, who sat on her right, and Loki, who was on her left.

Loki was unbound and the muzzle was gone. A small trial had taken place yesterday, and while Lori wasn't present, she had a good idea of the verdict. Odin was so consumed with guilt at his failure in parenting, that Loki was barely getting by with a slap on the wrist. Apparently he simply had to do enough good deeds to be called 'redeemed.' Loki nudged her on the arm, Lori's head popped down from the sky.

"Mhm?" She asked.

"Better get ready," Loki whispered quietly. "Soon you'll hear the 'mighty heroes' speech from Thor, and then… immortality is yours." Lori shivered a little in anticipation. Lena glanced over at her.

"You nervous at all?" Lena questioned.

Lori put a hint of a smile on her face. "Not at all," she lied smoothly.

"My fellow Asgardians!" Thor boomed, his voice filling the entire Great Hall. "We are here to celebrate the return of my brother, and the arrival of two new Asgardians: the Ladies Lena and Lori. They have proven themselves worthy of being called Asgardians in battle only a few days ago…"

"What did I tell you?" Loki said smugly.

"Show off. You've known him for years!" Lori protested. "I've only watched the movies!"

Lena was intently listening to her doppelganger drone on and on about battles and worthiness and immortality and something about a bilgesnipe.

"And so, it is here where we offer them the true gift of Asgard… immortality. By partaking the apples of Idunn, you are accepted as a full citizen of Asgard, and as members of our court. Thank you for your service, and we look forward to meeting your acquaintance better." Thor smiled. "Now! Eat!"

Lori and Lena made brief contact, and each plucked the apples from their plate. They raised them up to their mouths, and Lori could almost taste it… Both were about to bite in when-

-They vanished.

Dead silence fell over the Great Hall. "WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!" Thor boomed, enraged. "Loki- if this is one of your tricks-!"

"I promise you brother, it is no such thing," Loki said coolly. "Besides, why would I prevent the child who is like a daughter to me from receiving immortality?"

"Then who do you expect is behind this?"

Loki paused, then thought quickly, "They've gone back…"

"What?" Thor asked, his eyebrows furrowing in surprise.

"They were never from our world, Thor. They had to go back sometime… But the timing was atrocious…" Loki frowned.

"Will they come back?" Sif asked, piping up into the conversation.

"I truly do not know…"

(0)^_^(0)

Stephanie blinked in shock. She was standing back at the haunted house, back to back with her friends, about to go get scared for the heck of it. "Everyone here?" she asked, voice quavering.

"Headcount says yes," Nathan said after a brief second.

Lori hugged Stephanie tightly as the latter started to cry. "I didn't even get to say goodbye!" Stephanie whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks as Lori tried to comfort her.

"Chin up- we'll cry when this is over," she whispered, voice trembling with sorrow. "I didn't either."

They made their way through the haunted house, trying not to take out any of the actors on their way through. Stephanie partially failed- someone jumped out from behind a door and she uppercut him with the edge of her (once again cardboard) shield. After a few sincere apologies, wherein Stephanie looked liable to break down, they exited the haunted house without further incident.

They gathered at the trunk of Tasha's junky old pickup and clambered into the back. Stephanie lost it and started crying, right along with Brenda. Lori wrapped her arms around Stephanie and tried not to let the tears seep out of her own eyes. Nathan was comforting Claire, with both arms tightly secured around her as he rocked her silently.

"Ya'll ok?" someone with a southern accent shouted.

Tasha fixed her 'Stark Smile' in place and called, "Yeah, we're fine. Some of us just got a bit scared, is all."

"Nice coverup," Lena complimented, patting her arm gently, before pausing. "Um... I... I sound different..."

"No more Shakespeare in the Park," Brenda said, wiping some tears out of her eyes and sniffling a bit.

"Awwww, I loved Shakespeare in the Park," Lena complained. "It was really fun."

"Excuse me, we've just returned from an EXTREMELY different universe and we now have to deal with being without everything we're used to!" Stephanie snapped, trying to pull herself together. Then she broke again. "How does Dad do it?" she whispered.

Everyone knew who she was talking about.

"Now to face the normal world," Nathan said grimly.

Tasha clambered out of the trunk and got into the driver's seat, glancing over her shoulder at her friends. "Hold on tight," she ordered them, and turned the old gas-guzzler on.

They drove back to Tasha's place, where all their things were stored for the Halloween sleepover. The wind blasted through their hair, mussing everyone's costumes as they did so.

They arrived very late at night, and clambered out of the back. There were only a few kids outside as they started to walk back inside, trying not to cry. As Stephanie was about to step inside, something stopped her.

"Miss?"

She slowly turned around.

"Why were you cryin'?"

It was a small girl, dressed as a fairy. Her head was tilted slightly to the side as she looked up at the older girl.

Stephanie paused.

"Coming, Steph?" Tasha shouted.

"One sec!" she called over her shoulder, and knelt down to the girl's level.

"Did you lose your daddy?" the child asked.

Stephanie forgot to breathe.

"Cuz my mommy said my daddy's gone," the girl continued, not looking at her. "She said he's gone to be with Jesus."

Stephanie swallowed. "You're right," she said. "I have lost my daddy."

"Has he gone to be with Jesus too?" the girl asked.

Stephanie shook her head. "No. We're just separated by... a lot of space and probably some time."

The girl looked at her solemnly. "It'll be ok, then," she said simply. "You'll see him again."

Stephanie tried to smile. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away. "Thank you," she said with a small laugh. "You don't know how much I needed that- especially right now."

The girl nodded again.

"Arianna!" a woman called.

The girl turned. "I have to go," she said. "My mommy's calling."

"Go on, then- Arianna, right?"

Arianna turned to nod at her.

"Thank you."

Stephanie paused as she watched the young girl walk away. She shut her eyes for a moment, and a memory flashed in front of her eyes.

Her eyes snapped open.

"Stuttgart," she whispered. "I saved you in Stuttgart from Loki."

Arianna turned to smile mysteriously at her, and vanished back into the darkness.

Stephanie stared silently at the place Arianna had been seconds before as she slowly rose. She turned around and slowly walked back up to the house, staring at the door for a brief moment.

She stepped inside, and glanced over her shoulder one last time. Arianna was standing at the end of the sidewalk. She waved quietly, and a ghost of a smile crossed her face.

Stephanie nodded, and closed the door.

(0)^_^(0)

There is always a time when a good thing must come to an end. Their time there was short, a fleeting moment in their life.

But the impressions will last...

Forever.


End file.
